

















V 



w 



v "" , 












& '% 



s .V 












( I i N Y 







>> ^ 



,^ v 






v 



n H 



•4 -r. 



•* 



-^ 












- 



!/ 




%. v * 






v* ^- X 



o o" 



\ 

■ V. ; 







% V* . 



G°>" 



^ <^ * a v o ^ C° 







W 



x "• §,<§> 



^ 



0o 




^ ^ 










N ^ 



V . s ' 






v^ %* ,|! * 'V 



■ V 






** v 



,-Cv s"~' 



^ ^ 



^ -%. '. 



^. ,V 



-. > 



I||i""i||l' I||i""i||| Iin** ,, *t|I »I|P I|l"'"<lll !|l"""l|l 'Ill |||li"il|||lNuimii.fiii||iiiii||||ii«ii||| l|J|l""l||l l||l'»U|||IMfflj[||ii 

JllhUllHlllllllllllllltlillllllllllllXlllllll.lllHIl l!lllllll|l!!l.llllillllllllilll..|lltlll..lllllllMllini| l .ll)ll !l(lll.,lllllllHlllLlll|l| llilllMUllllh.lllllhMlllL- 



THE TEACHING OF 
ENGLISH 

In the Secondary School 



BY 



CHARLES SWAIN THOMAS, A.M. 

Head of the English Department in the 
Newton (Mass.) High School 




HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 

@tf)z Jtitoer?it>e $k#s Cambribsje 



■:i.niii|||iiini|||ii.Mi|||i m»"H}j|i»ni|| t >j»«i(j 1 H.MHj|i |||li"iimii>iii|j|ii»ii||| |j|li»ii|Biiiiii|j|iii«i|||ii>«i|||iiuii(j| iji|ii"ii|j|ii..ii|j|i."nfp-= 

iSiKiiifiiit.ntliiritimi liiiiMiimit.iinEkn^utlnw.iriiiiuniiiiiuifitliii^Eiifrii^tiiiliti.iiitiiiiiuiiifiii.iilM iliiiiiiiiliiihiiiliiiuiiiiiihiuiIiiiMiiiliuiiiiiliiiiiif 






COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY CHARLES SWAIN THOMAS 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



/ b& 



Cije £ibersibe Press 

CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 



M -4 1917 
©CI.A467308 



TO 

C. T. T. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/teachingofenglisOOthom 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

The present is beyond doubt a period of significant 
change in the field of secondary education. Under 
perfect conditions, gradual and continuous readjust- 
ment to the changing demands of a dynamic society 
should be characteristic of education at all times. 
In the past, however, perfect conditions have never 
obtained and in all probability the future will fail to 
provide them. The history of education shows clearly 
that the school does not promptly react to changes 
in social demands, that educational readjustment 
is seldom gradual, and that desirable changes in 
education, neglected for the time, gradually increase 
in number and importance until by the pressure of 
accumulated force they compel extensive and radical 
reorganization at irregular intervals. There is every 
evidence that the present is one of those periods when 
the accumulation of long-needed changes is compel- 
ling radical readjustment in the secondary school as 
well as in other departments of the system of educa- 
tion. 

Numerous factors have combined to require ex- 
tensive changes in the character of secondary educa- 
tion at the present time. During the past quarter- 
century the secondary school as a social institution 



viii INTRODUCTION 

has undergone a marked transformation necessitating 
important changes in its aims and functions, and, 
therefore, noteworthy changes in its organization and 
administration. The fact that in the two decades be- 
tween 1890 and 1910 the number of pupils in attend- 
ance at the public secondary schools of this country 
more than quadrupled is significant of much more 
than that a larger number of pupils must be accom- 
modated, or even that a larger proportion of the total 
population is receiving a high-school education. Such 
a development is also significant of the fact that large 
numbers of pupils have entered the secondary school 
whose different capacities, interests, and probable 
future activities demand differentiated forms of edu- 
cation never before provided, with far-reaching effects 
on the aims and functions of secondary education, the 
values and purposes of studies, and methods of teach- 
ing. . 

These changes in the character of the high-school 
population and in the social functions of secondary 
education have been accompanied by developments in 
the fields of educational psychology and educational 
sociology which have vitally affected the work of the 
school. Thus, in the field of educational psychology, 
among other influences may be mentioned the recog- 
nition of the importance of individual differences, the 
development of methods of quantitative measurement, 
and a reexamination of the laws of learning with spec- 
ial reference to theories of mental discipline. In the 



INTRODUCTION ix 

field of educational sociology, among other influences 
may be mentioned the reformulation of aims and func- 
tions and their restatement in terms of modern social 
theory, the social analysis of subject values, the rec- 
ognition of the importance of vocational training and 
educational guidance, attempts to reduce retarda- 
tion and elimination, and the endeavor to extend 
educational opportunity. 

Such changes as these demand, and at present bid 
fair to effect, extensive changes in the entire economy 
of the secondary school. Developments in the field 
of educational sociology necessitate an analysis and 
revision of the aims and functions of secondary edu- 
cation. Developments in the fields of educational 
sociology and educational psychology demand a re- 
examination and reinterpretation of the values and 
purposes of subjects of study and a redirection of 
methods of teaching them. 

When such important changes are imminent, there 
is imperative need of orientation and direction. The 
series of books on secondary education, of which this 
book is an important representative, finds its justi- 
fication in the recognition of current demands for the 
reorganization and redirection of the work of our 
secondary schools. The character of the series and 
of this book is thereby determined. 

The study of the English language and its literature 
occupies a unique position among the studies of the 



x INTRODUCTION 

secondary school — a position supported by univer- 
sal recognition of its importance for all pupils. No 
other subject can compare with it in the amount of 
attention afforded throughout the secondary-school 
course or in the extent to which it meets (or should 
meet) the needs of all pupils. Its economy, therefore, 
is of greater importance than that of any other sub- 
ject of study in the program. 

While all recognize the importance of the study of 
the mother tongue and its literature, and while few 
question the justification of its prominent position 
in the program of studies, opinions are by no means 
unanimous concerning the specific values and aims 
which should obtain in the teaching of English in the 
secondary school. There personal bias and personal 
opinion take the place of careful analysis and inter- 
pretation, with resulting lack of definite objective and 
with emphasis placed on this or that phase of the work 
according to the caprice or special interest of the 
teacher. English, no less than other subjects of study 
in the program of the secondary school, requires a 
careful analysis and interpretation of its special values 
and purposes. 

Such an analysis, however, with its consequent 
definition of specific values and purposes, can accom- 
plish little unless the implications of those values and 
purposes actually operate in the work of the school 
so as to affect vitally the organization of subject- 
matter and methods of teaching the subject. One of 



INTRODUCTION jri 

the constant dangers of educational practice, even 
where correct values and purposes are recognized in 
theory, is that the organization of subject-material 
and the character of the teaching method may not 
be so directed as to achieve the desired ends. Criti- 
cism at present directed against secondary education 
affects particularly assumed values and teaching 
methods. The teaching of English has not escaped 
such criticism and in many cases doubtless has de- 
served it. Only when the values and purposes of the 
study of English in the secondary school are properly 
conceived in terms of the aims and functions of sec- 
ondary education as a whole, only when the organ- 
ization of subject-matter and the character of the 
teaching are adapted to develop those values and 
achieve those purposes, can the study and teaching 
of the mother tongue and its literature become really 
effective. 

In this book the author presents a theory of the 
purposes of the study of English and an analysis of 
methods of teaching the subject, designed to achieve 
them. The purpose of Mr. Thomas in writing this 
book and the purpose of the editor in endorsing it as 
a part of this series, is to orientate and thereby im- 
prove the teaching of English in the secondary school. 
The author has first clearly and definitely outlined 
the values to be aimed at in the teaching of English 
and the purposes which should obtain. On this basis 
he has built up a theory of the organization of sub- 



xii INTRODUCTION 

ject-matter and a theory of teaching the subject, 
designed to develop those potential values so that 
they may actually achieve their intended purposes. 
To this task he brings an unusual knowledge of the 
educational theory involved and the results of long 
and successful experience in training young people 
through the study of English. In recommending the 
results of the author's labors to teachers of English 
and students of education the editor has in mind the 
importance of a conception which has guided Mr. 
Thomas in his work — that there is a vast difference 
between teaching English to pupils and training young 
people through the study of English. 

Alexanler Inglis 



PREFACE 

Keener and keener grows the inquiry into the 
whys and wherefores of current educational practice. 
The classics have already come under such severe 
scrutiny that the opponents have practically ban- 
ished Greek from the public high school. As we watch 
the modern trend we are actively wondering if Latin 
may not soon encounter a similar fate. In several 
communities the teachers of algebra and geometry 
have been suddenly placed on the defensive and coolly 
asked to justify their work. A general consensus of 
opinion still graciously allots a large amount of time 
to the study of high-school English, but the skeptical 
attitude of the scientific inquirer and the insistent 
questioning of the incredulous parent, as each exam- 
ines current practices in English teaching, has already 
suggested very direct investigation concerning the 
details of our work. Why not include more modern 
literature? Why teach Silas Marner to high-school 
freshmen? Why spend any time on formal grammar? 
Why devote so many lessons in the English class- 
room, drilling on certain principles that are habitu- 
ally ignored in practice in the history classroom? Why 
allot six weeks to the study of Treasure Island — a 
book that any normal boy would adequately digest 
in a day's diversion? 

Some of these questions are incidentally answered 
in the pages of this book, but there has been no at- 



xiv PREFACE 

tempt to anticipate sporadic inquiry or forestall criti- 
cism. There has been, on the other hand, a constant 
effort to seek fundamental principles that would aid 
us to justify or renounce any of our work that chances 
to be under momentary scrutiny — not so much the 
scrutiny of the unfriendly critic as that which we our- 
selves invite and direct. With the varying phases of 
the work brought into successive focus, what will the 
separate judgments be? And what old methods, as 
the results of these judgments, shall we discard, what 
new methods shall we introduce, and what shall be 
the various shifts of emphasis? 

We hope that the net result of this thinking has 
been constructive, and that there has been established 
a clearly defined theory of English teaching and de- 
partmental management applicable to the secondary 
school. 

The direct motive for putting this material into form 
was the invitation to offer to the students of the Har- 
vard Summer School a course in the teaching of Eng- 
lish. To the teachers who have taken this work during 
the past two years that it has been offered, the author 
is indebted for many ideas developed in conference 
and in class discussion. The major portion of the 
material is the accumulation of the author's study 
and experience through twenty years of school and 
college teaching. For direct help more recently fur- 
nished particular thanks are due Dr. Alexander Inglis, 
the editor of the division of secondary education in 
this series. C. S. T. 



CONTENTS 

I. Basic Aims and Values in the Teaching op 

English 1 

II. Abticulation of Elementaby-School English 

with Secondary-School English ... 21 

III. The Relation of Grammar to Composition 

and Literature 34 

IV. Composition and its Essentials .... 47 
V. Oral Composition 69 

VI. Cooperation with other Departments . . 97 

VII. General Principles governing the Choice 

of Literary Selections 112 

VIII. The Teaching of Poetry, with Particular 

Attention to the Lyric 133 

IX. The Teaching of Prose Fiction 167 

X. The Teaching of the Drama, with Particu- 
lar Reference to Shakespeare . . . .198 

XI. The Teaching of the Essay 224 

XII. The Problem of Outside Reading . . . 238 



xvi CONTENTS 

XIII. Supplementary Aids to the Teaching of 

English 254 

1. The School Paper. 

2. Debating. 

3. Prize Speaking. 

4. The City and School Libraries. 

5. Pictures. 

6. The English Club. 

XIV. Adjusting the High-School English Course 

to the Demands of the Commercial, Tech- 
nical, and Vocational Pupils . ' . . . . 271 

XV. The Training of the English Teacher . . 285 

Appendix 307 

A List of Theme Topics. 
The Special Tablet List. 
A List of Reference Books. 
A Selected Bibliography 

Index 351 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN 
THE SECONDARY SCHOOL 

CHAPTER I 

BASIC AIMS AND VALUES IN THE TEACHING 
OF ENGLISH 

The mediocre English teacher is often mediocre 
because he views his work from the merely obvious 
and immediate point of view. He is tempted to accept 
unquestioned the work which authority has imposed, 
and thus he fails to recognize the larger and finer aim 
which a broad psychology and an actual understanding 
of social values would supply. Because other English 
teachers in his vicinity have been doing their work in 
a special way, he wrongly concludes that their conven- 
tionalized methods are the only correct methods. Or 
because men of recognized experience have made cer- 
tain recommendations, he may falsely conclude that 
within their condensed set of recommendations are 
embraced all the arcana of the craftsmanship of Eng- 
lish teaching. But genuine craftsmanship seeks a larger 
base and a more extended vision. It skeptically ques- 
tions the validity of present performance and con- 
stantly urges a continual and intelligent advance. 

Because the art of English teaching deals primarily 



2 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

with language, the English teacher must clarify his 
conception of language formation and language growth, 
and thus employ his complete knowledge in adding to 
his teaching efficiency. In acquiring this knowledge he 
may profitably ask the aid of both the psychologist l 
and the linguist, and through these learn the impor- 
tance of having a scientific and analytical attitude 
toward the subject of English instruction. 

We shall learn from both that one of the funda- 
mental reasons for emphasis upon English rests on the 
necessity of mastering the conventional. This asser- 
tion, it must be understood, is in no sense opposed to 
the idea that modern education should seek to develop 
originality. It should develop originality, but there 
are many conventional things for the student to learn 
before he can have a base sufficiently firm and suffi- 
ciently broad to allow his originality intelligent dis- 
play. Even should we assume that in the grammar 
grades the student has learned to spell and to capitalize 
and to punctuate, we should, even without giving any 
time to reviewing these elementary matters, have a 
multitude of new principles to impart and new con- 
nections to make. We are helped in the appreciation of 
the magnitude of our task by an inquiry into the origin 
and growth of language. 

The origin of language is so shrouded in mystery 
that we are tempted to agree with Greenough and 
Kittredge in their assertion that " we do not know, and 
1 Cf. C. H. Judd, Psychology of High-School Subjects. 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 3 

never can know, how language began." * Perhaps we 
may be aided in our desire to secure a clearer concep- 
tion of our task of English teaching by a definite under- 
standing of one of the most widely accepted theories 
of the origin of speech. This theory assumes simply 
that in some far-off moment of primeval times, one of 
our very distant ancestors made a certain definite and 
arbitrary sound. It chanced that this sound conveyed 
a certain concrete idea to some fellow being. Finding 
that this device secured the communication of ideas, 
this ancestor of ours repeated it and later invented 
other sounds. And the present complicated state of 
language growth may be nothing more or less than the 
enlargement of that primeval idea. Arbitrary sounds, 
later translated into written symbols, have thus, 
through a long and involved course, become the me- 
dium of thought exchange. And it is these sounds and 
symbols, in all their uses and potentialities, that com- 
pose the materials of English teaching. 

In all our educational work it is particularly advis- 
able that the true relationship of language to thought 
should be definitely conceived. The English teacher 
must come into vivid consciousness of the faith that 
this relationship is so intimate that sincere endeavor 
to express a particular idea will help to clarify the con- 
ception of that idea and will, at the same time, tend to 
give it permanency. This relationship is expressed 

1 Greenough and Kittredge, Words and Their Ways in English 
Speech, p. 4. 



4 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

symbolically by Sir William Hamilton. He compares 
thinking to the process of ^excavation, and language to 
the masonry which secures form and makes the exca- 
vation practically enduring. To acknowledge the truth 
of this interdependence is to place upon all true teach- 
ers the responsibility of emphasizing language-train- 
ing for the purpose of developing the thinking powers 
of pupils. 

As teachers we shall remember that the early at- 
tempts of childhood are imitative. The child is merely 
trying to come into a clear comprehension of his lin- 
guistic environment and thus learn and thus under- 
stand the conventions inveterately convolved with his 
inherited language. In youth and manhood he acquires 
by education a more or less imperfect mastery of both 
oral and written speech. He acquires, coincidentally 
with this, a proportionate mastery of his thinking 
powers. The highest function of the English course is 
to bring the two elements of this synchronous growth 
— power in expression and power in thinking — to a 
quicker and higher potency. 

It is because of this intimate and subtle relationship 
between thought and expression that the study of a 
certain writer's style will, within certain limitations, 
reveal that writer's thinking powers; for maturity of 
thought almost automatically secures maturity of ex- 
pression. And conversely, the cultivation of a more 
mature style will generate a more exact and a more 
involved process of thinking. In teaching pupils to 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 5 

read and write effectively we can make use of this 
principle in a practical way. We can, for example, in 
the earlier years of the high-school period, dwell upon 
the process of cultivating a more mature form of sen- 
tence structure. It is particularly helpful to explain 
all devices by which proper subordination of ideas are 
secured within the sentence. Gradually, by making 
the more involved forms the basis of drill, we may 
encourage a maturer type of thinking. 

The English course develops this maturity of 
thought and expression by the work in composition 
and the work in literature. The intent of the first is 
to give the student command of the art of both oral 
and written expression and in the process to clarify 
the student's own thinking and feeling. The intent of 
the second is to stimulate thought, to arouse sympa- 
thetic emotions, and to purify conduct through the 
selected writings of those who have something worthy 
to say and have learned the art of saying it worthily. 
And to discover how this dual growth in language 
power may be developed, we may examine, in closer 
detail, the possibilities offered both (1) through the 
expressional side of language, and (2) through the inter' 
pretation of reading matter. 

1. The expressional side of language 

The most marked growth in language power comes, 
doubtless, through the opportunities offered con- 
stantly by informal speech. It is our recurrent priv- 



6 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ilege, in conversation and in letters, to give pleasure 
to our family and to our friends by recounting inter- 
esting incidents and describing scenes which the experi- 
ence of each day offers. We soon discover that any 
lack of success in these attempts is due in part to inac- 
curate observations. We realize that we have care- 
lessly allowed our impressions to be casual and general. 
We should instead rigorously demand that they be 
specific and thorough. As Flaubert explained to Mau- 
passant, each horse is different from every other horse, 
and a careful observer will detect the difference. Then 
having detected this difference, the writer's problem 
is to select such specific words as will graphically reveal 
the striking and differentiating qualities. To allow 
himself to perceive and express only vague and general 
impressions is to allow his vision and his style to be- 
come sadly enfeebled and powerless alike to secure any 
real intellectual grasp or. set forth any real impression. 
This contrast between vagueness and clearness of 
thinking is generally revealed in group discussions of 
any question other than the purely obvious and ele- 
mentary type. The relationships of the various items 
that the question comprehends are either not per- 
ceived at all or else perceived but dimly. Many of 
those participating in the discussion reveal both lack 
of power in logic and lack of power in expression. 
Business men seated around the directors' table dis- 
cussing the probable influence of the Federal Reserve 
Law, educational theorists considering the practical 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 7 

help that may come from vocational guidance, a town 
meeting questioning the advisability of introducing 
military drill into the public high school — any of 
these groups is likely to reveal marked distinctions in 
the power of the participating individuals to conceive 
true values and to express these values in a really 
illuminating way. When Alfred Tennyson once re- 
visited Cambridge his mind reverted to various dis- 
cussions that he and his friends had had in those college 
rooms in which Arthur Hallam had lived as a student 
— those rooms 

Where once we held debate, a band 
Of youthful friends, on mind and art. 
And labor, and the changing mart, 

And all the framework of the land; 

When one would aim an arrow fair, 
But send it slackly from the string; | 
And one would pierce an outer ring, 

And one an inner, here and there; 

And last the master-bowman, he, 

Would cleave the mark. A willing ear 
We lent him. Who, but hung to hear 

The rapt oration flowing free 

From point to point, with power and grace 
And music in the bonds of law, 
To those conclusions when we saw 

The God within him light his face, 

And seem to lift the form, and glow 

In azure orbits heavenly-wise; 

And over those ethereal eyes 
The bar of Michael Angelo. 

What was true in the college days of Hallam and 
Tennyson is still true in the discussions of all questions 



8 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

that demand mature analytical thinking. Because we 
are habitually hazy in our thoughts, we are habitually 
hazy in our expressions. On the other hand, accuracy 
and crispness in the first process naturally impel accu- 
racy and crispness in the second process. The constant 
effort of the English teacher should be to strengthen 
these two correlative phases of the educative process. 
Pupils thoroughly trained, in thinking and phrasing, 
will gradually acquire the coveted skill and will gladly 
enter into competition with those in their classes who 
have won this dual triumph — clear thinking and 
clear phrasing. 

It is interesting to note how this dual skill, mani- 
fested in its concisest phase, invents and preserves 
proverbs. Peoples of past ages had long realized that 
many observers were easily deceived by the mere ex- 
ternal appearance of things, — particularly the value 
of shining metals, — but Cervantes, perceiving the 
truth with special vividness, graphically phrased it for 
all time in his enduring proverb — "All that glisters 
is not gold." A considerable portion of the power and 
fame of Bacon, Knox, Pope, and Franklin rests in their 
power to condense much into little. Something of this 
conciseness the students should be taught to acquire. 

It is apparent that the power of concise phrasing 
and the power that manifests itself in the informal and 
extempore debate, such as Tennyson and his friends 
indulged in, may be quite fragmentary and thus escape 
the demand of structure. It is the more formal and 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 9 

preconceived speaking and writing that urges such a 
care in logical arrangement as will instantly command 
attention and preserve coherence through a series of 
paragraphs presenting various phases of a given topic. 
These various phases must be so presented that each 
succeeding part may follow as a natural consequent. 
And such a demand, constantly and consistently ex- 
erted by the student, is the great factor in developing 
— along with the language sense — ■ ability in accurate 
and constructive thinking. 

If the first part of this formal arrangement is con- 
cerned with the presentation of various and successive 
items, the latter part will offer the logical generaliza- 
tion and thus center into an important thought the 
natural and inevitable deduction; it will make explicit 
the unified theme resident in the varied data. Or the 
organizer may, instead of adopting this inductive 
method, follow the deductive process; he may estab- 
lish his premise in the beginning, and then step by step 
show how this phrased theory embraces and explains 
all possible exigencies compassed by the proposition. 
In either case he will exercise great care in so articu- 
lating the parts of his discourse that each step will 
show a natural and logical advance. Carefully selected 
connecting phrases will indicate the successive steps 
and make the result a coherent whole. By continued 
practice in the process the student will constantly tend 
to develop accurate expression and logical thinking of 
the more constructive type. 



10 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Still another interesting phase of expression and 
thinking is seen in the paraphrase. In a paraphrase, 
we test our understanding of a passage by changing 
the expression to accord with our own style, generally 
simplifying the original language and arranging the 
words in a more natural order. We take Browning's 
question — " Irks care the crop full bird? " and change 
it to read, Does any care disturb the bird that has had 
enough to eat ? The very exercise of our own language 
power has enabled us to come for the moment into 
coincident thinking with Browning. The process — 
especially with the young student — has stimulated 
both constructive thinking and definite phrasing. It 
has given him power in assembling fragmentary ideas. 
A greater aid will come, however, when the pupil has 
completed a more extended unit. Let him be asked to 
write out in his own language the thought which 
Browning has given us in the following passage from 
Rabbi Ben Ezra: — 

Not on the vulgar mass 

Called "work" must sentence pass, 

Things done, that took the eye and had the price; 

O'er which, from level stand, 

The low world laid its hand, 

Found straightway to its mind, could value in a trice: 

But all the world's coarse thumb 

And finger failed to plumb. 

So passed in making up the main account; 

All instincts immature, 

All purposes unsure, 

That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the man's amount: 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 11 

Thoughts hardly to be packed 

Into a narrow act, 

Fancies that broke through language and escaped; 

All I could never be, 

All men ignored in me, 

This I was worth to God. ... 



The rethinking of Browning's thought would give us 
a result akin to this: We should not judge a piece of 
work — a book, a picture, a vase, for example — by 
its mere external appearance or by the fact that it 
commands a high price in the current market where 
values are gauged by somewhat low and immediate 
standards. We should, on the other hand, consider 
things more deeply than this; we should take into 
account all the unapprised and unappraised items that 
went into the accomplishment of the given task — all 
the undeveloped ideas, all the tentative purposes, 
that were not actually and practically utilized, yet 
at the same time vitally influenced the work. These 
vague and unformed thoughts could not develop into 
specific expression, and. these fancies that escaped 
capture were unknown to men, but were known and 
appreciated by God. 

The performance by the student of a task of this 
sort will encourage him to follow accurately the lines 
of the poet's deeper thinking and will at the same time 
teach the student something of the poet's art of ex- 
pression. To these advantages we may add the large 
quantum of intellectual power and language skill that 
practice in exact phrasing always brings. 



12 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

A similar result may be achieved by the use of the 
abstract. The abstract demands the same coincident 
thinking and furthermore requires the student to re- 
phrase the ideas in condensed form. After studying a 
long essay, for example, the main thought of the essay 
may be reduced to a paragraph. Or the thought of a 
short poem, such as Matthew Arnold's sonnet, Worldly 
Place, may be expressed in a single sentence. 

Even in a palace, life may be led well ! 

So spake the imperial sage, purest of men, 

Marcus Aurelius. But the stifling den 

Of common life, where, crowded up pell-mell. 

Our freedom for a little bread we sell, 

And drudge under some cruel master's ken 

Who rates us if we peer outside our pen — ■ ' 

Match'd with a palace, is not his a hell? 

Even in a palace ! On his truth sincere, 

Who spoke these words, no shadow ever came; 

And when my ill-schooled spirit is aflame 

Some nobler, ampler stage of life to win, 

I'll stop and say: "There were no succor here! 

The aids to noble life are all within." 

After following each detail of the poet's thought, the 
student gains a certain degree of power by his attempt 
to reduce the message to a single sentence, such as the 
following: Depressed by our limited surroundings, we 
may long for a higher place; but remembering that Marcus 
Aurelius found a -palace full of temptations, we may com- 
fort ourselves with the thought that the real aids to human 
life are within. 

The process of making such an abstract has forced 
the student to digest the author's thought and has at 
the same time urged an abridged but a comprehensive 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 13 

expression of that thought. The work properly accom- 
plished has unquestioned educative value. It stimu- 
lates thinking and it stimulates phrasing. 

In the cases which we have been considering we 
have emphasized principally the sort of expression that 
clarifies thought. It is of lesser importance that we 
emphasize the sort of expression that clarifies emotion, 
for emotion is more likely to be felt by the untrained 
reader. Such a reader may, however, grow more sensi- 
tive to emotional effects by noting a critical analysis 
that shows the way these effects are produced. How, 
for example, does James Thompson secure the feeling 
of dominant gloom in his City of Dreadful Night ? Study 
merely the first stanza : — 

As I came through the desert thus it was, 

As I came through the desert: All was black. 

In heaven no single star, on earth no track; 

A brooding hush without a stir or note, 

The air so thick it clotted in my throat; 

And thus for hours; then some enormous things 

Swooped past with savage cries and clanking wings: 

But I strode on austere; 

No hope could have no fear. 

Slow reading and pause are essential for appreciation. 
We then get the effect of limitless extent connoted in 
the word desert and the concurrent sense of the per- 
vading dark — a darkness that shuts out all light from 
the stars above and all the tracks and trails on the 
sand-strewn earth beneath. Everywhere is the sense 
of hushed and brooding silence and the distress that 
comes from breathing suffocating dust. All this suffer- 



14 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ing and gloom the traveler endures for long hours. 
Then some huge things fly past; it is too dark for him 
to distinguish them and perhaps he would not know 
the strange creatures could he see them. He is im- 
pressed chiefly by their enormous size, their savage 
cries, and their clanking wings. But all this blackness 
and suffocation and interrupted silence aroused no 
sense of fear; as the traveler-poet had already aban- 
doned himself to hopelessness, be strode stoically on. 

The reader may be led to see that the effect of the 
desert sense is deepened by the repetition in the first 
and second lines. The feeling of blackness is intensified 
by the specific mention of the blackness in the sky and 
the blackness on the earth. Certain expressions are 
appropriately chosen to create specific emotional 
effects; such expressions are brooding hush, clotted in 
my throat, swooped past, savage cries, clanking wings. 
Each of these re-creates the sensory images that deep- 
ened the poet's emotion as he wrote. To reveal this to 
the unpracticed reader is to increase the reader's per- 
ception of emotional effects. 

The increased appreciation for discerning the meth- 
ods which skilled writers have used for clarifying their 
tb jught and emotion is here emphasized for the pur- 
pose of developing the student's power of original 
expression. Having through instruction and practice 
become more familiar with these technical matters, he 
becomes increasingly concerned with the task of origi- 
nal creation. Seeing how others succeed in expressing 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 15 

their thoughts and feelings, he catches hints that 
enable him to express his own thoughts and feelings. 
He acquires skill in the selection and arrangement of 
words. Vivid adjectives, verbs that re-create situation 
and feeling, the nice correspondence of sound and 
sense, sympathetic portrayal of character, the percep- 
tion and expression of sensory images — these supply 
the elements and qualities of style that mark his pro- 
gress in the mastery of language. 

2. The interpretation of reading matter 

The preceding discussion has laid its stress upon the 
task of developing in the student power to express 
thought and emotion in suitable language. This is the 
art of composition. We are now to discuss briefly the 
task of the student in understanding the work that 
good writers have produced. This is the art of inter- 
pretation. In teaching, each of these arts needs to be 
supplemented by the other. 

A large part of the difficulty of school and college 
work is traceable to the student's inability to read the 
printed page. Laziness encourages a disregard of dic- 
tionaries and reference books. Indifferent and frowsy 
habits prevent concentration. Where such lapses per- 
sist, the writer and the reader cannot come into coin- 
cident thinking or feeling. Thought and emotion are 
here lost, not because either the sending or transmit- 
ting apparatus is bad, but because those who sit at 
the receiving station are either ignorant or incompe- 



16 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

tent. How can the student be stimulated to intelli- 
gence and alertness here? The most necessary habit 
is concentration. Too many students have learned the 
gentle art of slipping over difficulties. They have ac- 
quired unusual skill in cutting the first o out of thorough 
and getting through — as their net attainment. 

In the primary grades the pupil's first problem is 
simply to master the mechanics of letter and word and 
sentence. The unfamiliar forms finally come to yield 
their familiar message. With the advance in the mas- 
tery of the mechanical forms the problem grows more 
complicated. The high-school student, for example, is 
still concerned with the question of form, but the 
problem has attained greater difficulty because the 
sentence structure of the reading selection reveals 
greater complexity of phrasing and greater maturity 
of thought and emotion. The vocabulary and the style 
have naturally kept approximate pace with this ad- 
vance in complexity and subtlety. The constant prob- 
lem of the English teacher is to keep before the expand- 
ing mind of the pupil such literary selections as will 
day by day stimulate a wholesome growth and still 
confine the writer and the pupil easily within the realm 
of common understanding and common sympathy. 

To prevent lethargy and stagnation, the student 
must first be taught the necessity of mastering the 
vocabulary of the reading selection. Without under- 
standing each word he cannot get the full meaning of 
the author; and to fall into the habit of carelessly get- 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 17 

ting only a part of the meaning is to weaken all disci- 
pline and vigor of the mind. He must learn to use the 
valuable help that comes from the dictionary, the 
encyclopedia, the atlas, the Bible concordance, and 
all the ordinary reference aids. 

Nor have we sufficiently emphasized in our teaching 
the fact that even when all the words and allusions 
have been mastered, the reader has not yet, it may be, 
received the full message of the sentence or paragraph; 
the ideas are so far aloof from his own experience that 
he feels no cordial sympathy. On one who knows 
nothing about Boy Scouts scant impression is made by 
reading the bare sentence — " Jack Blossom's Scout 
honor was being sorely tempted." Really to under- 
stand the significance of this it is necessary to have 
lived in intimate association with the idea of Scout 
honor. And thus it is that interpretation of literature 
is often difficult because the interpreter's experience is 
necessarily limited. 

But the intensive study of literature means much 
more than this mastery of the literal and the connota- 
tive. While there must be the intellectual and sympa- 
thetic comprehension that concentration and study 
and experience bring, there must likewise be, in all 
true interpretation, a spiritual comprehension as well. 
There is in true literature — particularly in poetry — 
a cadence that finds response in the emotion and imag- 
ination of men. How significantly is this revealed in 
Tennyson's lines descriptive of the bugle's song! 



18 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

O, sweet and far from cliff and scar! 
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing. 

A certain rhythmic and imaginative play in the lines 
secures its natural response in those readers who are 
trained to listen for aesthetic effects. 

Furthermore, throughout our study we must vigi- 
lantly guard against fragmentariness; we must strive 
to secure the whole effect. To attain the complete 
values demanded by the art of interpretation it is 
necessary to see the particular function that each of 
these selected portions serves in carrying out the mes- 
sage and design of the whole — the whole poem, play, 
essay, or story. The relative place and importance of 
each scene, situation, incident, and idea must be seen 
in the perspective that will properly subordinate each 
to the main thought and reveal the complete artistic 
design and the dominant purpose of the selection. To 
test the reader's understanding of the whole, he should 
be encouraged to phrase the central idea in condensed 
form. 

And along with this sort of test, the student should 
be constantly encouraged frankly to discuss whatever 
may be the current reactions — intellectual, emotional 
and moral — which the given selection produces. 
What does it mean? What feelings does it arouse? 
What beauty does it portray? What mood does it 
engender? What truth does it reveal? What conduct 
does it urge? These and other questions of a more 
intimate nature will serve to show how vital the inner 



BASIC AIMS AND VALUES 19 

message of literature really is. For we must all admit 
that the most practical interpretation of literature is 
not seen in mere intellectual, emotional, or aesthetic 
response; it is seen in the realm of actual living — 
higher conduct growing out of a higher idealism. And 
it is toward this design that the real teaching of litera- 
ture is tending. Professor MacVannel l voices a signifi- 
cant truth when he writes: " The fundamental bond of 
social life is, then, none other than morality, which 
consists essentially in the presence of some phase of 
the social purpose as a moving ideal before the individ- 
ual mind." By giving to our young people the high 
ideals of our best writers, and by showing how these 
ideals are revealed pictorially in fiction and drama and 
poetry, we may bring to them the most vital truths in 
the realm of practical ethics. 

It is apparent, from these enumerations, that the 
task of the literature teacher is a complicated one. 
He must teach his students to be conscientious in 
mastering new words and in learning the significance 
of new allusions; he must teach the value of experi- 
ence — real or imagined — that enables us to enter 
sympathetically into an alien situation; he must teach 
his students to respond to aesthetic effects of style 
and treatment; he must arouse the keenest intellec- 
tual response, and above all, he must stimulate a 
desire for noble living. 

1 J. MacVannel, Outline of a Course in Philosophy of Education, 
p. 113. Macmillan, 



20 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The basic aims and values in English teaching, we 
may briefly reassert, rest primarily upon expression 
and thought. This interesting and intimate relation- 
ship between language and thinking should consist- 
ently guide our teaching and should intelligently lead 
our students into a gradually maturing skill in power 
of interpretation and power of phrasing. The two 
concurrent pedagogical agencies in this dual process 
are the courses in composition and the courses in liter- 
ature. The ultimate aim of the first is a finer crafts- 
manship in language and style; the ultimate aim of the 
second is an enlargement of knowledge, an expansion 
of ideals, a deepened emotion, and a perfected conduct. 
The two phases of the work should never be kept 
widely apart; each should constantly be made to sup- 
plement the other and to merge its separate functions 
into the general design of the mastery of English. 



CHAPTER II 

ARTICULATION OF ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL ENGLISH 
WITH SECONDARY-SCHOOL ENGLISH 

We are so accustomed to treat educational topics 
analytically that we sometimes lose sight of the value 
of considering them synthetically. Instead of dividing 
our educational processes into definite and highly elab- 
orate groups, it is desirable that we at times mentally 
reverse the process and conceive the unity of the whole 
educative process. We should think of it as a devel- 
opment from within outward, the various rates and 
stages of progress being conditioned by a favorable 
external environnment. This, as we explained in the 
opening chapter, is of particular value in English 
instruction. Whether we be teachers in the elementary 
school, the grammar school, the high school, the col- 
lege, or the university, we all find two common aims 
constantly dominating: We are anxious to develop 
power in expression, and power in interpretation. 

Now, in this endeavor we have found it expedient 
to divide ourselves into groups and to label ourselves 
kindergarten teachers, elementary teachers, grammar- 
grade teachers, high-school teachers, and college pro- 
fessors. And we have together set about doing the 
work that convention has allotted to our confined 
fields. But working in those fields, toward the desig- 



22 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

nated aims, we have had our notions rudely disturbed 
— our progress has been sorely hampered because we 
have found so many clods unpulverized, so many 
weeds still luxuriating. Baffled and vexed we have 
turned to discover who was responsible for the disturb- 
ing conditions; and naturally we have laid the blame 
upon the group of instructors who have immediately 
preceded us. 

In the calmer moments that followed our decision 
we have seen that fault-finding was not only futile but 
often unjust; for so many alienating influences lay 
just beyond the pale of this preceding instruction — 
home influences, the language of the shop, street, and 
playground, the "comic" section of the newspaper, 
cheap theaters, low standards everywhere. Out of 
this charity and this conviction sprang the realization 
of the need for mobilization of forces against these 
common enemies; and this, in turn, laid stress upon 
organization and proper articulation. 

Failure to make effective articulation has been all 
too obvious between many of the stages of the pupil's 
progress; but the division most difficult to bridge has 
undoubtedly been that one which spans the period 
between the elementary school and the secondary 
school. In the grammar grades the pupil's work, in- 
cluding his study periods, has been closely supervised. 
He has usually been under the constant charge of a 
teacher who hears him recite in all his various branches. 
Even where departmental work has been carried on, 



ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL 23 

the policy of close supervision of the entire day's work 
has not been relinquished. 

This practice has sometimes made it extremely diffi- 
cult for the entering pupil to use wisely the larger liber- 
ties of the high school. Left free to choose his own 
study periods — many of them outside the schoolroom 

— the pupil has floundered in his new independence 
and has failed in his first year's work for lack of defi- 
nite direction and adequate supervision. 

Oftentimes the high-school teacher of English has 
taken too much for granted. He has falsely assumed 
that the entering child was able to take care of himself 

— to study the literature assignment without aid, to 
prepare the oral or the written theme without detailed 
suggestions. An expert, perhaps, in his own field, en- 
dowed with an insight that reveals at once the message 
of the selection, skilled in the art of writing and speak- 
ing, fertile in mental resourcefulness, and still en- 
wrapped, it may be, in the trailing clouds of college 
glory, he is entirely unable to appreciate the struggles 
of this fourteen-year-old neophyte who stands without 
the treasure-stored cave with absolutely no knowledge 
of the " open sesame" that unlocks the barrier to the 
treasure within. 

Under such circumstances it is perhaps but natural 
that the high-school teacher of English should have 
grown a bit captious and complain that his pupils had 
come to the high school without adequate preparation 
in technical grammar, unable to write and speak cor- 



24 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

rectly, helpless in knowledge of attack, and woefully 
deficient in power to read. Asked to defend herself 
against such an arraignment, the teacher from the 
elementary school might truthfully reply that she knew 
nothing of the conditions that prevailed in the gram- 
mar school and could therefore have no real concep- 
tion of the many and varied demands which lessened 
the opportunities for English training. She might add 
that the high-school teacher failed to adjust his meth- 
ods to the natural immaturity of the child and neg- 
lected to make the transition easy by offering the 
needed personal aid. 

Were we to seek a definite summary of the various 
criticisms that come from the two sources we should 
secure something akin to this : — 

A. From the high school: — 

First-year pupils suffer from (1) ignorance of formal 
grammar; (2) inability to write and speak correctly; 
(3) inability to grasp the central thoughts of a reading 
selection; (4) unconnected course of study. 

B. From the grammar school: — 

The high school fails to articulate with the grammar 
school (1) in program; (2) in method of instruction; 
and (3) in general handling of pupils. The maladjust- 
ment during the transition produces license and con- 
fusion, which reacts in lowered performance and dis- 
couragement. 

Full conception of these convictions has suggested 
various experiments. Many in executive authority 
insist that only the most expert members of the Eng- 
lish staff shall be allowed to teach the first-year high- 



ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL 25 

school English. Natural sympathy and intelligent ex- 
perience have developed in these selected teachers a 
skill that insures a safe pilotage for this entering class. 
Increasing resourcefulness has continued to develop 
a finer teaching technique, and this increased skill has 
gradually reduced failures to the minimum. 

This improved condition, however, has not usually 
come to any school system without effort. It may have 
come through the influence of some grade teacher who 
has been transferred — perhaps temporarily — from 
the grammar school to the high school. The authorities 
have watched her successful work in the grades, they 
have noted her unusual teaching skill, combined with 
her adequate culture, and have very correctly assumed 
that her influence would be equally stimulating with 
high-school pupils. They have, accordingly, invited 
her to teach English in the high school. Where such 
transfers have been wisely made, the influence of such 
a teacher has quickly spread throughout the English 
staff. The best of the grammar-school attitude and 
method has thus been brought to the high school, and 
the number of failures consequently reduced. More 
time has been given to personal conference, more at- 
tention paid to the possible ways of developing oral 
and written themes, more stress has been placed upon 
intelligent drill, and more specific aid offered for the 
study of the literature assignment. 

We have remarked parenthetically that this trans- 
fer from the grades to the high school may be tempo- 



26 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

rary. Oftentimes when intended to be but temporary 
the change has proved so advantageous to the high 
school that the high school has demanded the retention 
of this skillful teacher. For the good of the entire sys- 
tem, however, it is generally desirable that such a 
teacher return to the grades and carry back to her asso- 
ciates in that sphere of work the lessons that the high 
school has taught her. Upon her return to the grammar 
school she will be more watchful of her teaching meth- 
ods. She will guard against that type of grammar-school 
teaching that makes the pupil helpless and dependent 
when he later encounters the new freedom and neces- 
sary responsibilities of the high school. She will try 
to make him more resourceful in the planning and the 
writing of his own themes; she will develop more initia- 
tive skill in the preparation of a literature assignment; 
she will be more intelligent in her emphasis upon drill. 

The same school system that encourages this sort of 
exchange may likewise send a high-school teacher to 
the grammar grades — though this is less commonly 
practiced. In most instances it is easier to encourage 
frequent visits of the high-school teachers to the 
grades. While not so much may be learned by cursory 
visits as by actual exchange, it is, nevertheless, true 
that even temporary contact will prove enlightening; 
it will be particularly helpful because it will generate a 
spirit of intelligent inquiry and genuine sympathy. 

This spirit may be further developed by group con- 
ferences. The superintendent of schools or the super- 



ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL 27 

visor of English may appoint a general English com- 
mittee, made up of representatives from the upper 
grammar grades and from the high schools. A cam- 
paign for the year may be planned by this committee, 
and the general conferences — from three to five, let 
us say — may discuss at each meeting selected phases 
of this larger question. To prevent rambling and vague 
comment the committee should exercise great care in 
the choice of speakers and in the phrasing of its topics. 
To insure more careful thinking on the part of each 
member of the conferring group, the committee should, 
previous to the meeting, send out printed or type- 
written programs of each conference. At the end of 
a year — or some other predetermined period — the 
committee, in its final report, should be able to record 
a definite accomplishment. 

Some of the topics that might profitably be investi- 
gated by such a conference are : — 

1. Standards of measurement in theme-correcting. 

2. What specific accomplishment may the high school 
reasonably demand? 

(a) In composition. 
(6) In literature. 

3. What items in technical grammar should be taught? 

4. How can certain types of errors — the "run-on" sen- 
tence, the "dangling participle," the subordinate- 
clause sentence — be most effectively eliminated? 

5. Securing variety in sentence structure. 

6. The construction of a twelve-year English course. 

7. Oral composition. 

8. Oral reading and declamation. 

9. The three hundred words most commonly misspelled 



28 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

10. Devices for teaching punctuation. 

11. Devices for teaching the paragraph. 

12. Plays, pageants, and motion pictures. 

13. Cooperation with other departments. 

14. Cooperation with city library. 

15. The use of magazines. 

16. Does ability in oral and written English, shown in the 
grammar school, fail to persist in the high school? 

17. Are the standards of composition achievement in the 
grammar school and the high school the same* Are 
they mutually understood? 

18. What causes, aside from variable standards, may con- 
tribute to explain the possible deterioration in the Eng- 
lish work of the first-year pupils? 

19. What can be expected of the successive grades in ability 
to grasp central thoughts of the reading selections? 

20. How can the choice of reading matter in grammar and 
high schools be systematized? 

21. Letter- writing and how to teach it. 

22. How pictures may be used in teaching literature. 

One of the ways to make this conference work effec- 
tive is a predetermination to print the results of the 
investigation. During the three years of such collabo- 
ration at Newton, we have published three different 
reports — one on spelling, one on sentence structure, 
and one on letter-writing. Working in conjunction 
with the Division of Education at Harvard University, 
we have also aided Dr. Learned and Dr. Ballou in 
supplying the material used in construction of the 
Harvard-Newton Scale. 1 

Several conferences grew out of an attempt to bring 

' l The Harvard-Newton Bulletin, no. 2, Scales for the Measurement 
of English Compositions, by Frank W. Ballou, Ph.D. Published by 
Harvard University, September, 1914. 



ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL 29 

the grammar- and high-school teachers of Newton 
into a clearer understanding of aims and standards. 
The following notice was sent to all the grammar 
schools of the city: — 

To the Masters of the Newton Grammar Schools: — 

It has been frequently observed that, in the transition from 
grammar school to high school, some pupils find difficulty in 
adjusting themselves to the new conditions. So far as it con- 
cerns work in English, the teachers in the English depart- 
ment of the Newton high schools desire to get at the facts in 
this situation. It is hoped that thereby conditions in the 
high schools, which may at present be working injustice to 
the pupil, may be discerned and removed, and that a good 
mutual understanding of aims and correlation of standards 
between grammar schools and high schools may be pro- 
moted. 

As one means to this end it is proposed that a complete set 
of short themes, representative of the present work of first- 
year pupils in the high school, be sent back to the respective 
grammar schools where these pupils were prepared, and there 
be corrected and rated precisely as for mature members of 
the eighth grade. It is asked, further, that in addition to the 
rating and correction, it be expressly stated whether, in the 
opinion of the teacher or the master, the exercise represents 
a gain or loss or approximately normal work on the part of 
the child concerned. 

To supplement the information thus obtained, and to 
afford a broader basis for investigation next year, the gram- 
mar masters are invited to secure a similar theme from every 
pupil at present in the eighth grade, and send the themes to 
the high school, where they will be corrected and rated from 
the high-school point of view. They will then be returned 
for the inspection of the grade teachers and preserved for 
future comparison. For the sake of uniformity and complete- 
ness it is desired that the following conditions be observed : — ■ 

1. That a specimen theme be secured from every child 
now in the eighth grade, regardless of his division. 



30 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

2. That it represent his original work alone, uninfluenced 
and unimproved by assistance of any kind. 

3. That the exercise be conducted by the master, and be 
limited to a half-hour precisely. (The amount written 
in a given time is one factor desired.) 

4. That the instructions be given to the class as follows: 
"Give an account of the most exciting experience you 
have ever had (real or imaginary)." Assign the task the 
previous day. 

5. That the exercise be written on standard theme paper 
(unruled margins), and bear the name and age of the 
writer, the name of the school, the grade and division, 
and the date in the upper right-hand corner. Use the 
reverse side of the sheet if necessary. 

6. That the papers be looked through first by the grade 
teacher and rated on the same basis as other eighth- 
grade papers, the ratings to be entered on a separate 
slip and sent to the superintendent. No marks should 
be placed on the papers. 

It is clear that a comparatively moderate amount of effort 
will thus place at our mutual disposal a considerable mass of 
definite and significant evidence which alone is of value in 
attempting the solution of problems of this nature. 

While it is apparent that such a topic could not 
yield definitely measured results, it is equally clear 
that work of this character is worth while because it 
tends to develop the spirit of cooperation and friendly 
inquiry. Moreover, the two groups were better able 
to understand each other's point of view and to catch 
hints of methods that we can now more wisely adopt in 
our individual classes. Because conditions are always 
changing and the personnel of a teaching staff never 
remains permanent, it is of course desirable that ex- 
periments similar to this be frequently repeated. 



ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL 31 

To those who have had their English training in 
small private schools the difficulties of articulation as 
just outlined will be unfamiliar. This is particularly 
true where the plan of organization follows the English 
system — division into the six forms that succeed the 
elementary grades. The division between the elemen- 
tary school and the first form comes at an age which 
makes the transfer easier, for there is, of course, no 
marked chasm between the second form — correspond- 
ing to the eighth grade — and the third form — cor- 
responding to our first-year high school. The transfer 
is no more difficult than between any other two forms. 

The perception of the easier and more gradual ad- 
vance has suggested the six-year plan; and the Na- 
tional Council of Teachers of English, working through 
its committee on the reorganization of high-school 
English, has laid out a six-year course both in litera- 
ture and in composition. The course begins with the 
seventh year and ends with the twelfth. The division, 
it may be noted, accords with the idea and plan of 
the junior high school, so successfully conducted now 
in many communities. While the more extravagant 
claims of the junior high school may not justify them- 
selves in actual test, it seems reasonable to assume that 
the mere bre r '^mg-up of the set division of school work 
will in itself tend to effect a readier and less self- 
conscious transition. The junior high school by its 
very genius implies attention to details that in the 
past have hampered the natural educational progress. 



32 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

It selects a period of development when the change is 
easier for the pupil; it chooses for its teaching staff 
both those who have had experience in the grammar 
school and those who have had experience in the high 
school: it grants a larger amount of time to the indi- 
vidual pupil. These theoretical advantages suggest 
better articulation. 

Still another agency that will help us out of our diffi- 
culty is the English supervisor — an officer coming 
into more and more prominence as the need for expert 
direction of English work becomes more clearly ap- 
parent to those administering a school system. In some 
cities the English supervisor has directive charge of 
all the English work throughout the twelve school 
years. In larger systems the field is limited to the 
upper grammar grades and the high school. Whatever 
the designated field, the influence of a strong guiding 
hand is one of the most helpful factors in effecting 
closer articulation between the grammar school and 
the high school — and even if this were his only accom- 
plishment, his services would be extremely valuable. 
As a matter of fact, the bridging of this particular 
chasm is only one item in the more intelligent unifica- 
tion of the English instruction. 

Through the conference work and through the influ- 
ence of the superintendent of schools or the English 
supervisor, the grammar school and the high school 
can agree more definitely upon the specific work that 
each should attempt; for in this prevailing vagueness 



ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL 33 

of demand the grammar-school teachers feel helpless. 
Usually they are more than willing to meet their tasks 
when they know definitely what those tasks are. And 
this specific knowledge the various administrative 
agencies of the school should help to establish. 



CHAPTER III 

THE RELATION OF GRAMMAR TO COMPOSITION AND 
LITERATURE 

Inasmuch as grammar, composition, and literature 
are usually linked together as necessary component 
parts of the conventional English course, it is natural 
to inquire into the nature of this relationship and to 
question the logic of this triangular linking. Is the 
kinship among these three studies so close as inevit- 
ably to link them together in all our secondary English 
courses? Can any one of them be taught independ- 
ently of the other two; and if so, is such differentiation 
and isolation accomplished only by a certain tour de 
force that makes the process artificial and defective? 
And if we are correct in our assumption that the aims 
of English instruction are, when reduced to simplest 
terms, the acquirement of more skill in expression and 
in interpretation, is the study of formal grammar 
necessary? 

A generation ago, by a consensus of opinion, educa- 
tional authorities were willing to accept the theory 
that grammar is the agency that teaches us to write 
and speak the English language correctly. The same 
generation voiced its approval of grammar by using 
it in analyzing and parsing generous portions of Para- 
dise Lost, or some equally famous literary selection. 



GRAMMAR, COMPOSITION, LITERATURE 35 

Thus the influence of technical grammar was allowed 
to dominate both the teaching of composition and the 
teaching of literature. 

But some one, skeptically inclined, began to notice 
that certain people with little knowledge of textbook 
grammar spoke and wrote with unusual correctness; 
and that others, well-nigh perfect in their knowledge 
of grammar, spoke and wrote the English language 
atrociously. This skeptic also discovered — or thought 
he discovered — that a knowledge of grammar did not 
necessarily insure power in the interpretation of litera- 
ture. The skeptic was followed by the scientific in- 
quirer, who made tests that seem to have proved that 
pupils with accurate knowledge of formal grammar 
are no more correct in English expression than are 
those pupils with little or no knowledge of formal 
grammar. And similar tests support the view that 
knowledge of grammar neither insures correct literary 
interpretation nor gives the pupil additional power in 
discriminations. 1 

Mr. Abraham Flexner, writing in the Atlantic 
Monthly, July, 1916, re- voices this skepticism. " One 
wonders," he says, " what will happen to formal gram- 
mar in the age of reason the coming of which will be 
accelerated by asking why. Sometimes it is urged that 
formal grammar teaches children to write and speak 

1 F. S. Hoyt, "The Place of Grammar in the Elementary Cur- 
riculum," Teachers College Record, November, 1906. T. H. Briggs, 
" Formal English Grammar as a Discipline," Teachers College Record, 
September, 1913. 



36 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

correctly; but as all Americans have studied formal 
grammar, including newspaper reporters and sales- 
women, there would appear to be no guaranty that 
formal grammar study leads to correct habits of 
speech. On the other hand, I once knew a school where 
for fourteen years not a minute was spent on formal 
grammar, and, like the worm who does not miss a 
slice or two, no one ever knew the difference. I suspect 
that formal grammar is in for trouble when parents 
begin to insist on knowing why." 

A questionnaire recently submitted to the English 
teachers in all the high schools of New York City con- 
tained this specific question: — 

r Do you think the study of formal grammar in the high 
school produces marked results in increased efficiency in the 
use of English? 

To this question 129 voted " yes "; 151 voted " no." * 
It will be noted that those voting for the affirmative 
totaled only 34 per cent. 

We get an interesting result from the collected 
answers to another item in the same questionnaire: — 

Would a carefully planned course in English usage, in 
place of the course in grammar, result in greater effectiveness 
in the use of English than does the course in grammar? 

In reply 141 voted "yes"; 99 voted " no." The total 
voting affirmatively is 58.7 per cent. 

1 Bulletin xvi. Published by the Association of High-School 
Teachers of English of New York City. 



GRAMMAR, COMPOSITION, LITERATURE 37 

Commenting on this vote the committee reports: — 

The obvious conclusion would then seem to be that formal 
grammar should be dropped from the course of study, and 
that in its place should be put a course in English usage, 
largely a drill subject, perhaps to be called applied grammar. 
In such a course, it would seem to your committee, the 
teacher should cease to regard grammar as a science so far as 
work is concerned, and should bend every effort toward the 
improvement in the art of speech. That is for most of us a 
matter of habit, of imitation, if you please. 

Further light on the problem is seen in the results 
of an investigation which Professor W. W. Charters, 
of the University of Missouri, 1 made with the children 
of Kansas City. Professor Charters found out, by 
careful experiments with the children of all elementary 
grades above the third grade, exactly what errors in 
grammar were being made by these children in oral 
and written speech. These errors, having been re- 
corded and collected, were sorted as to types, and 
percentages on each of the discovered types were com- 
puted. The completed investigation showed what 
rules of grammar had been violated. An additional 
table set forth the items of grammatical knowledge 
necessary for the pupil to know in order that he might 
understand the rule. Before he could understand that 
the object of a verb is in the objective case, he must, 
for example, know the significance of the term verb 
and objective case. 

This report disclosed the fact that many items now 

1 Bulletin of the University of Missouri, vol. 16, no. 2. Columbia, 
Missouri, January, 1915. 



S8 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

currently taught in the grammar texts used in Kansas 
City are useless when we consider only the knowledge 
that — consciously or unconsciously — determines 
correct English. We might, according to the testi- 
mony secured, dispense with the following terms: 
exclamatory sentence, interjection, the appositive, the 
nominative, the objective complement, the objective used 
as a substantive, the adverbial objective, the indefinite pro- 
noun, the classification of adverbs, the noun clause, con- 
junctive adverbs, the retained objective, the nominative 
absolute, and the gerund — all technical items that are 
explained and illustrated in the grammar texts used 
in the Kansas City schools. 

These experiments, and others that have been made, 
have brought a strong arraignment against grammar. 
In its final report to the National Council of Teachers 
of English, the Committee on the Articulation of 
Elementary and High-School Course in English, voices 
this protest in unequivocal terms: — 

The time-devouring demands of formal English grammar 
are outrageous; the results on language interpretation and 
language use are practically nil. The elementary school 
should sharply delimit the term "grammar" as applying to 
analytic, formal grammar — the grammar that encumbers 
absorptive little minds with useless terminology — and em- 
phasize grammar in the sense of correct use, the facts to be 
drilled on as use and not to be terminologized. 1 

In the face of these protests, the soul of the experi- 
enced teacher may perhaps stand up and answer, "I 

1 The English Journal, May, 1914; vol. S, no. 5, p. 307/. 



GRAMMAR, COMPOSITION, LITERATURE 39 

have felt." He knows that his painfully acquired gram- 
matical knowledge has helped him, and he knows, too, 
that the knowledge his pupils have gained has helped 
them. Certain grammatical rules he has gratefully 
accepted as final authority on doubtful points. 

The current tendency of thinking educators is to 
advocate the teaching of a limited amount of formal 
grammar in some particular teaching situation. When 
teachers find that their students do not have the item 
of knowledge that would overcome a given difficulty, 
they should pause then and there to give them that 
knowledge. They want it for the same reason that in 
playing chess they want to know the significance of 
such technical terms as castling, gambit, queened 'pawn, 
and stalemate. The knowledge of the mere terms will 
not enable them to win the game, but it will afford 
them a chance to discuss situations more intelligently, 
and these discussions may enable them to clarify their 
notions of effective chess-playing, and in time contrib- 
ute to their skill. Think of being a good golf-player 
without knowing the meaning of a 'putting-green, a 
mashie, or a niblick ! And if you were teaching chess or 
teaching golf, would you not insist that your pupils 
master these terms? 

We are continually playing with our students this 
interesting game of language. As together we make our 
moves, as we make our strokes, we ever and anon find 
ourselves in interesting situations — some of these 
evidencing skill, some of them evidencing crudeness, 



40 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

If some of these situations have, by previous practi- 
tioners, been happily named, is there any reason why 
those of us who know these names should not accept 
and teach them. Our newly acquired term may not 
make us skilled writers or gifted interpreters, but it 
will make our discussions more interesting, more eco- 
nomical, and more intelligent. 

All this means to suggest that in teaching composi- 
tion and in teaching literature, grammar should all the 
while be thought of, not as an end in itself, but as a 
means toward an end. It cannot, in itself, teach any 
one to use the English language with unfaltering cor- 
rectness: it can, however, be utilized as an effective 
agency (1) in perfecting oral and written speech, and 
(2) in interpreting literature. Each of these functions 
we may, in turn, briefly discuss. 

Grammar and composition 

In correcting compositions we continually find that 
our pupils have written sentences of this faulty type: 
Which is a perfectly sound document. Most teachers 
have discovered no better way to eradicate this error 
than to teach very thoroughly the distinction between 
a sentence and a clause — or, if you prefer, the dis- 
tinction between a principal clause and a subordinate 
clause. Knowledge of this grammatical distinction 
may not alone correct the fault ; this knowledge 
supplemented by adequate drill, can correct the 
fault. 



GRAMMAR, COMPOSITION, LITERATURE 41 

Or take such a persistent error as the "run-on" 
sentence: / went to hunt my cousin I found her in the 
elephant's tent. Knowledge of what constitutes a sen- 
tence and the subsequent drill that develops sentence 
sense — these, so far as we know, are the only things 
that will completely eradicate this error. Well taught, 
the student will likewise easily see that a comma 
between the principal clauses will not suffice; sentence 
sense is satisfied only by a semicolon or a period after 
"cousin." » 

It was recognition of the aid that grammar offers 
composition teachers that led the National Conference 
on Uniform Entrance Requirements in English to 
record its opinion: — 

The study of English in school has two main objects: 
(1) command of correct and clear English, spoken and writ- 
ten; (2) ability to read with accuracy, intelligence, and 
appreciation. 

The first object requires instruction in grammar and com- 
position. English grammar should ordinarily be reviewed in 
the secondary school; and correct spelling and grammatical 
accuracy should be rigorously exacted in connection with all 
written work during the four years. The principles of English 
composition governing punctuation, the use of words, sen- 
tences, and paragraphs should be thoroughly mastered; and 
practice in composition, oral as well as written, should ex- 
tend throughout the secondary-school period. 

1 But rather inconsistently, usage allows a comma in similar cases 
where three clauses are used, as in the following sentence after do: — 

Practically, however, Cuba has been looking to us constantly for hints as to what 
we would like to have her do, she hardly takes a step without consulting Wash- 
ington, and it is quite apparent that the mere rumor of a secret wish at Washington 
may be enough to influence action in Havana. 



42 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

A later paragraph in the same report explains the 
examination requirements: — 

In grammar and composition, the candidate may be asked 
specific questions upon the practical essentials of these 
studies, such as the relation of the various parts of a sentence 
to one another, the construction of individual words in a sen- 
tence of reasonable difficulty, and those good usages of 
modern English, which one should know in distinction from 
current errors. 

The first examinations which the College Entrance 
Examination Board held after these requirements 
came into force (June, 1915), carried out the spirit and 
the letter of the preceding demands. 

1. (a) Explain the grammatical relation of each clause in 
the following sentence: — 

I do not know why.so much that is hard is interwoven with our life 
here! but I see that it is meant to be so interwoven. 

(6) Copy the following sentences, making such changes 
as you think necessary: — 

Between you and I, I think I would prefer not to publicly acknow- 
ledge the mistake. 
Each one said good-bye in their own way. 
Tell me all the circumstances, both pleasant and otherwise. 
Those roses may smell as sweetly as you say, but it don't matter to 
me, for I've got an awful cold. 

The questions in June, 1916, were similar in their 
intent: — 

1. (a) Explain the grammatical relation of each subordi- 
nate clause in the following sentence, and tell what 
part of speech each italicized word is : — 

When such a question comes before the Supreme Court and is deter- 
mined, the determination may be different from what the legal pro- 
fession has expected, may alter that which has been believed to be 
the law, may shake or overthrow private interests based upon view* 
now declared to be erroneous. 



GRAMMAR, COMPOSITION, LITERATURE 43 

(b) Copy the following sentences, making such changes 
as you think necessary or desirable. Briefly tell 
why you make each of these changes : 

1. The long line of automobiles, each with their freshly painted bodies 
were very impressive. 

2. There is no doubt of him being the best of the two. 

8. The final match to the tournament transpired yesterday. 
Each played first-rate. Whom do you think was the victor? 

We do not cite these questions as a fundamental 
reason why grammar should be taught in connection 
with composition. We cite them merely as evidence of 
a continuing conviction among thinking teachers that 
grammar is an efficient and necessary tool in the mas- 
tery qf our English speech. But throughout our com- 
position teaching we should insist that no false wor- 
ship be bestowed on grammar. Grammar's laws are 
not unalterable — they are simply some analyzer's 
attempts to express the principles of current usage in 
speaking and writing. When this usage changes we 
recast our rule. When good usage accepts " It is me," 
for example, we must either revise our rule for predi- 
cate-nominative or accept the form me as a form of 
the nominative. Grammar simply registers good use; 
its powers are not executive. 

2. Grammar and literature 

In teaching literature the appeal to grammatical 
knowledge is naturally less frequent than it is in 
teaching composition. But to dispense with the aid 
that grammar offers would mean the loss of a valuable 
tool. In the study of Browning's Rabbi Ben Ezra many 



44 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of our high-school and college students have found the 
interpretation of the second and third stanzas diffi- 
cult: — 

Not that, amassing flowers. 

Youth sighed, "Which rose make ours. 

Which lily leave and then as best recall?" 

Not that, admiring stars, 

It yearned, "Nor Jove, nor Mars; 

Mine be some figured flame which blends, transcends them all!" 

Not for such hopes and fears 

Annulling youth's brief years, 

Do I remonstrate: folly wide the mark! 

Rather I prize the doubt 

Low kinds exist without, 

Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a spark. 

Ask the simple question, "What is the subject of 
the first sentence in these two stanzas? " There will be 
various answers, and only a few will see that the sub- 
ject is I in the line beginning Do I remonstrate. Then 
ask for a paraphrase, and ultimately — after many 
questions on the syntax — you will get this for the 
first sentence: 7 do not remonstrate against the fact that, 
during its brief period, youth spent its time in selecting 
pleasures and in cherishing exalted ambitions. 

The last part of the fourth stanza of the same poem 
will give grammatical pause to some : — 

Irks care the crop-full bird? Frets doubt the maw-crammed beast? 

What part of speech is irks ? care? frets ? doubt ? Put 
the words in their natural order. 
Many readers, careless in noting syntactical points, 



GRAMMAR, COMPOSITION, LITERATURE 45 

fail to get the full meaning of this simple passage from 

Intimations of Immortality: — 

Oh, evil day! if I were sullen 
While Earth herself is adorning, 
This sweet May-morning. 

But establish the simple fact that herself is the object 
of is adorning and the meaning of the line is unmistak- 
able. 

The last part of the third stanza in Ode on a Grecian 
Urn often proves puzzling: — 

Ah, happy, happy boughs, that cannot shed 
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu; 
And happy melodist, unwearied, 
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd, 
For ever panting, and for ever young; 
All breathing human passion far above, 
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd, 
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. 

Ask the students in your class for the syntax of passion. 
You will discover that not all of them will have noted 
that it is the object of the preposition above. This bit 
of grammatical knowledge thus interprets the line; 
it shows that the love here described is of a highly 
spiritual type — far above all breathing human passion. 
The right answer to this question on grammar will 
bring into clear focus what was cloudy and vague, and 
the members of the class will wonder at their own lack 
of insight. 

Comparatively few literature recitations will pass 
that do not invite question involving a knowledge of 
the simpler principles of formal grammar. Separations 



46 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of main and subordinate clauses, the modifications of 
verbs or nouns, the correct placing of adverbial 
phrases, the differentiations of subjects and objects — 
answers to such grammatical questions will correct 
misconceptions, establish right relationships, and re- 
veal to thinking students unsuspected modes of intel- 
lectual attack. As teachers of literature we therefore 
see the value of continued instruction in the simpler 
principles of formal grammar. 

This, then, is our conviction and conclusion. Tech- 
nical grammar in itself is of limited value. When 
taught it should be taught as a means toward an end 
— not as an end in itself. The common terms have 
economic value, for they may be profitably used for 
purposes of discussion and consequent clarity. Its laws 
are not to be viewed as sacred or unalterable; they are 
simply attempts to record current principles of good 
usage. When this usage changes, the laws must be 
revised. But in the current status of our English lan- 
guage, when printing has crystallized the essential 
forms of speech, and the trained eye resists innova- 
tions, we may accept with a feeling of surety the ex- 
pressed principles of our best grammarians. Accepting 
them and demanding that our students accept them, 
we may, as teachers of composition and of literature, 
make effective use of these grammatical principles, and 
thus secure added reverence for the best of English 
usage. 



CHAPTER IV 

COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 

While an interesting group of friends were seated 
one evening around the inviting fireplace of one of our 
city clubs, the conversation drifted undesignedly to 
the discussion of accomplishments. The question crys- 
tallized finally into this form: "Granted the super- 
natural privilege of receiving to-night whatever accom- 
plishment you wished, what would be your choice?" 
Naturally there were various answers — musical pow- 
ers, the wisdom of the philosopher, the insight of the 
scientist, the ingenuity of the inventor, the skill of 
the great sculptor, the great painter, the architect, the 
actor. After many various opinions had been ex- 
pressed, one of the men, who had all the while remained 
silent, finally spoke in a tone that won immediate 
attention. He said that the gift he would choose was 
the gift that would give him complete and subtle mas- 
tery over the English language. " What greater pleas- 
ure," he inquired, " than to hear some one express in 
clear tones and in appropriate diction the thought that 
we in our crude way have long been struggling to 
express? The occasion," he added, "is always present 
— dictating a letter to your stenographer, phrasing 
your ideas at the meeting of a board of directors, writ- 



48 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ing a committee report, — not one of us but needs the 
command of the English language every day. The 
minister in his pulpit, the lawyer at the bar, the poet 
in his study, the editor at his desk, the teacher in his 
classroom, the guests around a dinner-table, we our- 
selves seated in this chance group — to what greater 
power can any one aspire than the power to marshal 
at will the most appropriate thought and express that 
thought in the most appropriate phrase?" There was 
a general feeling that the speaker had chosen wisely 
and that nothing further need be said. 

But from the stage of immaturity among our high- 
school freshmen to the acquired power of men and 
women to marshal their best thoughts and command 
the fittest utterance of their ideas, a long series of years 
and a tedious stretch of discipline intervene. The end 
we see in the master's skill; the process we see in the 
neophyte's struggles. Our ideal, however, is gloriously 
conceived; what shall be the routine that leads to this 
mastership of language? We must discover the peda- 
gogical base and build from that. In their own experi- 
ence many teachers of English have found the largest 
possibilities for growth in carrying out the spirit of the 
five imperatives we have here enumerated: — 

1. Develop a sense of form and organization. 

2. Discover and arouse the individual's interest. 

8. Stimulate keen observation and graphic phrasing. 

4. Make use of the other studies in the curriculum. 

5. Criticize constructively and sympathetically. 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 49 

1. Develop a sense of form and organization 

We must emphasize mechanical details. Make con- 
crete demands and hold your student unequivocally to 
those demands. Here are certain requirements 1 to 
which each student in all his submitted written work 
must rigidly comply. 

1. Use only the uniform paper designated by the English 
department. 

2. Write with black ink on one side of the paper only. 

S. Write the title on the first line. Capitalize important 
words. Draw a double line under each word. Place no 
period after the title. 

4. Leave one line blank between the title and the first line 
of the composition. 

5. Indent each paragraph. Begin one inch from the left- 
hand margin. All other lines should start exactly on the 
margin. Do not allow your right-hand margin to be- 
come too scraggly. 

6. Use the hyphen cautiously, at the end of lines, with 
careful attention to the division of words. Do not 
divide syllables. 

7. Endorse all themes exactly as the teacher directs. 

8. Make your handwriting legible. Do not allow any letter 
to extend far above or far below your base line. Do not 
crowd your words — leave a space of a quarter of an 
inch between them. 

These demands should be insisted upon all the more 
rigorously because so much English work is, by its 
very nature, vague and indefinite and offers liberties 
that some students will grossly abuse; but here the re- 

1 These directions, with slight difference in phrasing, are taken 
from Thomas and Howe's Composition and Rhetoric. Longmans, 
Green & Co. 



50 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

quirements are absolutely specific and allow the most 
rigid auditing. Where this is true, we are false to the 
highest teaching standards if we permit our pupils to 
become lax: while teaching English composition we 
may also teach a bit of applied ethics. 

These mechanical points here dwelt upon are not 
to be accepted as the chief and dominating points 
under form and organization. They are merely the 
necessary superficial attributes. We should emphasize 
them at the beginning of our composition work in 
order that we may not have to emphasize them 
throughout. * 

The abiding stress in organization falls upon the 
consideration of the composition as a whole — its 
beginning, its middle, its end. These are not mere 
requirements which arbitrary rhetoric-makers have 
whimsically set. The principles find their base in 
common-sense psychology. It is like the journey from 
here to anywhere — we make our start, we pursue our 
progress, we reach our end. Recounting it afterwards, 
we are most likely to narrate the incidents in chrono- 
logical sequence, and thus satisfy nature's rigid de- 

1 In this connection, too, we may remark in passing, the time 
when themes may be handed in should be inflexibly set — the begin- 
ning of the hour of the designated day. The wisest policy is to refuse 
— except in rare instances — to accept a theme which is overdue. 
If for his neglected or late theme the pupil has a good excuse, record 
the excuse; if he has no excuse, record the failure. Learning your iron 
will, the students graciously bend to yours : learning your weak will, 
they make you ungraciously bend to theirs. In such a situation you 
can say with the Duke of Ferrara, "And I choose never to stoop." 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 51 

mand for order. This demand leads us to insist upon 
an introduction, a development, and a conclusion. 

An undiscriminating emphasis, however, has not 
infrequently been placed upon the demand for an 
introduction. If a boy decides to write a short composi- 
tion on My First Great Disappointment, he does not 
have to go around Robin Hood's barn to get a start. 
A false emphasis upon introductions may encourage 
him to say, " First great disappointments are of vari- 
ous kinds.'" This is flagrantly inane. It is far better, 
of course, to make the immediate plunge and say, 
"My first great disappointment was my inability to 
attend Barnum's circus." The theme is going to be so 
brief and so comparatively inconsequential that any 
purely introductory sentence is artificial and needless. 
We begin without delay. When I go over to the club 
with my neighbor just across the street, I get up and 
walk over without bothering even to put on my hat. 
But before taking a trip to New York, I spend half an 
hour in packing. If I plan a summer in Europe I spend 
a day or two in packing and in other preparations. 
Then I start with a safer sense of assurance. 

Nature's sense of order demands, further, that when 
we start on these journeys we should not only know 
where we are going, but we should know the various 
steps to take after our arrival. In a word, organization 
demands prevision — the same type of prevision that 
enables an architect to perceive imaginatively the 
detailed structure of a building. The principles that 



52 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

govern the architectonics of writing, it is the business 
of the composition teacher to see and teach. 

What we have accepted concerning the introduction 
to a composition applies likewise to the conclusion. 
A part of the charm of a short theme may be its abrupt 
ending; the writer crisply says his say and stops. 
Larger compositions — particularly the long exposi- 
tions and the long argument — are, on the other hand, 
more commanding in their appeal if at the end they 
rephrase and reinforce the salient points. But when 
the mechanics of this organization are too boldly dis- 
closed, a part of the effectiveness of the order is lost in 
the obviousness of the scheme. The reader resents the 
bare disclosure of the skeleton plan. As students of 
composition we must therefore remember that such 
devices as the enumeration of points and the repe- 
tition of headings may grow monotonous and ob- 
trusive and thus thwart our design of retaining the 
interest and good will of the reader. We need un- 
studied artlessness in our studied art. 

As an aid to effective writing, students should be 
encouraged to make definite outlines as plans of their 
work, in order that the whole may be definitely pre- 
visioned. But the students must likewise be advised 
to make the method of transition from point to point 
so skillfully as to avoid obtrusion and monotony. In 
many cases the prepared outline may be very simple, 
but in the longer essays — essays of twelve or fifteen 
hundred words — they should be reasonably elaborate. 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 53 

As an example of a simple outline form we may note 
the following: 1 

1. A certain house has three floors: — 

A. The ground floor, containing the 

1. Reception hall. 

2. Living-room. 
S. Dining-room. 

4. Kitchen, including the 

(a) Butler's pantry. 

(b) Cook's pantry. 

(a') Cupboards. 

(&') Cold-storage plant. 

B. The second floor. 2 

C. The third floor. 2 

In the writing of the theme the three most impor- 
tant principles to observe are Coherence, Unity, and 
Emphasis — what Mr. Opdycke, in his Composition 
Planning, calls the C U E of good writing. After teach- 
ing the principles, we may insist that our students 
apply to each of their given compositions these three 
tests: (1) Do the parts stick together? (2) Do all these 
parts in combining say but one main thing? (3) Are the 
parts so apportioned and so placed as readily to make 
the strongest appeal? 

If, then, the teacher has put enough — but not too 
much — stress on the mechanical points, the paper, 
the ink, the margins, the penmanship; if he has laid 
a much firmer stress upon the necessities of cultivating 
the power of previsioning the entire theme, and has all 

1 C. N. Greenough, English A — Manual of Instructions and 
Exercises for 1916-17. 

2 Subheadings not worked out. 



54 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

the while rigorously insisted that in carrying out this 
preconceived plan the writer shall carefully observe 
the three principles of Coherence, Unity, and Emphasis 
— if he has done these things well, he has laid his 
foundations securely and may proceed to other 
matters. 

2. Discover and arouse the individual's interest 

Perhaps more important than the way to do a thing 
is the impulse to do it. It may, therefore, be more 
important in some classes for a teacher to give first 
consideration to the creation of this laudable impulse 
to write. Certain it is that there is unlikely to be un- 
usually good execution without unusually vivid con- 
ception. One of our first attempts, therefore, should be 
to arouse a glowing interest in something specific; for 
interest spontaneously incites expression, and free 
expression is one of our chief aims. With the impulse 
established, pride in the performance may be later — 
perhaps concurrently — aroused. 

Start each year with something new. You have, 
perhaps, never tried advertising. Try it this year. 
Send your pupils to the newspapers and the magazines. 
Suggest that they bring to you the next day the best 
advertisement they can find. When the class assembles 
the following morning have several of these advertise- 
ments read. Discuss why they are good, the item that 
caught the individual's attention and made him select 
that particular one. Agree upon something for the 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 55 

next day that all will select as an advertisement theme. 
Perhaps it is a summer cottage on the shore. In this 
advertising- writing can you do as well as the agent who 
advertised a. client's house? When a purchaser ap- 
peared a few days later he asked to see the house. 
" No," said the owner, " I don't want to sell. I did n't 
know what an attractive estate I owned until I read 
my agent's description of it in last Wednesday's paper. 
Now I 'm going to keep this splendid place." 

This advertising suggestion is just a point of depart- 
ure; it arouses a sense of novelty, it stirs up the lethar- 
gic, it makes the thoughtless think. Composition, it 
may be, is not so dull after all. Go from advertis- 
ing to something else, and finally you will be having 
your boys and girls doing the thing you really want 
done. 

But advertising, you say, does not appeal to you. 
Very well. Try something else. On page 56 is a chance 
item clipped from the Boston Herald of August 23, 
1916. 

This slight story — merely one of thousands that 
we read in the daily press — has many imaginative 
appeals that your pupils will be glad to utilize in their 
oral or written themes, provided only the English 
teacher present it with zest and feeling. Here are some 
of the various possibilities of working up the details: -— 

1. How "Cousin Jane" got her name. 

2. Her first manifestation of Wanderlust. 

3. Incidents of the hurdy-gurdy days. 



56 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 



COUSIN JANE" OF DEDHAM 

DISAPPEARS FROM HOME 



May Have Yielded to Wanderlust, but 
Owner Thinks Monkey Was Stolen 

Whether the Wanderlust seized "Cousin 
Jane" again, or whether some vandal suc- 
cumbed to her charms and forcibly abducted 
her, is the problem that is puzzling Mrs. 
Huntington Smith of Dedham, the owner of 
the very fine South American monkey whose 
loss was advertised in yesterday's appers. 

For years "Cousin Jane" led the life of 
a nomad. In the company of two Italian 
hurdy-gurdy girls, she journeyed from Maine 
to California, spending the greater part of 
the day's hike perched on the back of the 
gray Indian pony which drew the street piano. 
Then the outfit became stranded in Dedham, 
the girls found employment in a shoe factory, 
and "Cousin Jane" became persona non grata 
in the factory boarding-house. At this time 
she passed into the hands of Mrs. Smith, and 
has been the spoiled darling of the neighbor- 
hood ever since. 

Fastened to a tree in front of the house, 
she has received the attentions of friends and 
passers-by for the past two years, until Mon- 
day morning, when she disappeared. It may 
be that the lure of the gypsy trail became too 
great for "Cousin Jane" and that she has 
gone to find another hand-organ to which she 
may attach herself. Mrs. Smith, however, is 
inclined to believe she was not a free agent 
in the matter, and is offering a reward for her 
return or discovery. 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 57 

4. She loses her mate in Maine. 

5. Her first red coat and cap. 

6. Learning to ride Wyoming — the pony. 

7. The parting from Mona and Tessa. 

8. "Cousin Jane" plays a trick on the star boarder. 

9. The exodus from Hunter Street. 

10. Mrs. Smith receives the wanderer. 

11. Gaining the host's affections. 

12. Getting acquainted with the neighbors. 

13. An enemy in the midst. 

14. The lure of the gypsy. 

15. She meets another mate. 

16. Living up to a monkey's reputation. 

17. In disgrace. 

18. Reenter Mrs. Smith. 

Or perhaps you have discovered that one of your 
pupils, Frank Ranger, knows more about birds than 
Audubon did in his day. Frank gets up every morning 
to make his observations. See him privately. Get him 
to talk. You are interested and he sees that you are. 
Finally the opportune moment comes and you tell him 
what you want him to do. " Write out sometime Mon- 
day just what your bird observations were before 
breakfast that morning. Bring your rough draft to 
me; I want to talk to you about it." Then you make 
the necessary changes and suggest additions; tell him 
to write it out in ink and ask him to read it before the 
English class on Tuesday. That is simply another 
point of departure. You have discovered this boy's 
particular interest. Discover the personal interests of 
others and use these enthusiasms to stir the lifeless. 

Is composition teaching dull? Only if you are con- 



58 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ventional and unresourceful. Don't follow custom too 
blindly; push your bark into uncharted seas. Invent 
your own devices — these mentioned are simply three 
out of a score that might be named; it is far better for 
each of us to be original and evolve our own. Develop 
the spirit of adventure. Discover and arouse the in- 
terest of the class, the interest of each individual pupil. 
You will enjoy it, and so will they. You will have a 
good time siphoning their ideas; but you will have to 
start the siphon. 

3. Stimulate keen observation and graphic phrasing 

We are now getting started, but we need to do more. 
We need to stimulate keen observation and graphic phras- 
ing. We may name these two together because they 
are psychologically related. If we learn to observe 
keenly, we have made our first step toward phrasing 
vividly. But we need to acquire words — and subtle 
power in mastering them — before we can reveal to 
others the results of our keen observings. 

Both of these powers are admirably revealed by Mr. 
Joseph Husband in his "Dynamite," 1 published in the 
Atlantic Monthly (July, 1915). Mr. Husband, describ- 
ing his visit to a dynamite factory, has just come from 
one of the buildings where a portion of the process of 
manufacture is carried on, and is approaching the 
second building where the process is completed. 

1 This essay now appears in America at Work. Houghton Mifflin 
Company. 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 59 

Far down at the end of the little street the strong, hot 
smell of paraffine hung heavy in the air. Inside, against the 
walls of the building, the paper cartridges were drying; racks 
of waxed yellow tubes half filled the building. 

Here the first process of manufacture was completed. 
Stable and harmless, the fragrant wood-dust was being pre- 
pared for its union with that strange evanescent spirit which 
would endow it with powers of lightning strength and rapid- 
ity. 

With our powder shoes sinking in the sliding sand we 
climbed the path to the top of the hill which marked the 
center of the twisted dune. On its summit the frame building 
'of the nitrater notched the sky. Here in the silence between 
earth and clouds, a mighty force was seeking birth. 

Perched on a high stool, an old man in overalls bent in- 
tently over the top of a great tank, his eyes fixed on a ther- 
mometer which protruded from its cover. Above, a shaft 
and slowly turning wheels moved quietly in the shadows of 
the roof. There was a splashing of churning liquid, and the 
bite of acid sharpened the air. 

This quotation illustrates what is accomplished 
when acute powers of observation are combined with 
bold skill in phrasing — ability to detect sensory 
impressions and ability to convey these impressions to 
listeners or readers. 

Yes, easily perceived in the master, some inquirer 

comments; but how are you to teach the apprentice? 

For one thing dwell upon this term sensory impression 1 

— the varied messages caught by the five senses of 

taste, smell, feeling, hearing, and seeing. In the first 

portion of the quoted passage we get at once the 

paraffine smell, the waxed yellow tubes, the fragrant 

1 For a fuller discussion of sensory images see How to Teach the 
English Classics, R.L.S., no. I. Houghton Mifflin Company. 



60 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

wood-dust, the sinking shoes, the splashing of churning 
liquid, the bite of acid in the air — an appeal to each 
sense except the sense of taste. The chances are that 
your pupils have not thought much about these ap- 
peals and their possible uses in composition. Make a 
deliberate assignment for the next day — a composi- 
tion that makes an appeal to at least three different 
senses. Here are some suggested titles: My Walk among 
the Fir Trees; Gathering Checkerberries; Our Winter 
Picnic; Among the Tapestries; An Imaginary Ramble in 
Sunny Spain; Feeding the Wild Animals; A Forest Fire. 1 

It will be readily seen, after a short experience along 
these lines, that one reason why the young writer has 
not observed closely is that the charm of noting these 
various sensory appeals has never been brought specifi- 
cally and compellingly to his attention. Once aroused, 
his interest will continue, and he will take pleasure in 
the apperception of finer and more delicate tones and 
shades. Automatically there will come with this the 
increase in the learner's vocabulary — new words that 
will convey to others these newly acquired distinctions. 
A more graphic style is a natural sequence. 

As a spur to this developing sense of nicety, the stu- 
dent should be taught that Nature never produces two 
objects exactly alike. The blades of grass, the rose 
leaves, the stalks of wheat, the robins, and the squirrels 
— each of these has an individuality that differentiates 
it from others of its kind. The morrow's assignment 

1 For a list of over a thousand available topics see Appendix 4. 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 61 

might appropriately be for each pupil to bring to class 
two maple leaves and let a portion of the recitation 
hour be spent in the study of the differences. The art 
department and the science department of the school 
could easily be enlisted in this type of exercise. 

The parallel literature study offers its constant aid 
in carrying out this third imperative. A famous nat- 
uralist once said that his interest in poetry sprang from 
his chance reading of the first stanza of The Eve of St. 
Agnes; he was arrested by the line — 

The hare limped trembling through the frozen grass. 

The observation of Keats had been sufficiently acute, 
his power in phrasing sufficiently deft, to bring to this 
young naturalist the feeling that, after all, science can 
find in poetry a genuine inspiration and a genuine 
pleasure. The naturalist, as well as all the rest of us, 
may be stimulated to keener observation and to more 
graphic portrayal. The resultant is a general sense of 
increased satisfaction. 

4. Make use of the other studies in the curriculum 

For definitely carrying out the desire for coopera- 
tion with other departments, teachers should carefully 
make their assignments, prefacing them with an earn- 
est plea for each student, in all his written and oral 
work in other classes, to make his English as well- 
ordered, as correct, and as forceful as ability and 
watchfulness can secure. Upon each member of the 



62 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

class impress the idea that mastery in English comes 
only to him who is willing to make his best effort inten- 
sive and habitual. With these ideals before a class, 
the teacher may suggest that for the next theme — 
oral or written — the topic be directly connected with 
the work in other departments. Translation from for- 
eign language will almost immediately suggest itself, 
and may be offered among several other alternatives. 
Zest may be added to the next recitation by requiring 
some of the class to write original themes, others to 
write translations; and then, when the results are 
handed in, endeavor to see if the translations have 
been so skillfully made that they can be distinguished 
from the original themes. 

In a chance conversation with a group of pupils, you 
have perhaps discovered that one of your boys is par- 
ticularly interested in electricity, another in the prin- 
ciples of the submarine, and another in aviation. As 
all of these subjects are a part of the work in physics, 
the teacher of physics will be interested in helping the 
student to prepare for this theme which is to be given 
before the English class. In my own practice I have » 
cooperated with our senior physics teachers in another 
way. Near the close of the school year we have found 
it profitable, where the personnel of the two classes 
was practically the same, to make use of the stereop- 
ticon. The physics teacher has prepared a set of slides 
that illustrated the principles and construction of a 
dynamo, the working of a gas engine, and many other 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 6S 

mechanical principles. A slide, or a unit of slides, was 
given out to each pupil for previous preparation. On 
the assigned days we met and listened to these themes. 
We then criticized the themes from the two stand- 
points — physics and English. The necessity of clear 
English was then vitally enforced. Nor is it necessary 
that the classes meet with two teachers. In your own 
classes require an explanation of the principles that 
dictate the construction of the storage battery, the 
third-rail system, the arc lamp, milk tester, block sig- 
nal, parachute, airbrake, air pump, water pump, 
hydraulic ram, elevator, telephone, and a score of 
other mechanical devices of daily observation. 
/History offers an endless variety of subjects, extend- 
ing from the earliest controversy in the Garden of 
Eden to the latest development of the woman- 
suffrage movement, and disclosing a chance to discuss 
in dramatic detail many varied events in which men 
and women have wrought important changes in the 
history of the world. 

What is true of foreign languages, science, and his- 
tory is true in varying degrees of all the other subjects 
in the school. By taking the initiative in making use 
of these non-English topics we may enlist the interest 
of the other teachers and thus begin a successful cam- 
paign to raise to a higher standard the oral and the 
written work of the entire school. The students may be 
taught to feel that a lapse of English in any classroom 
is just as serious as a lapse in the English classroom. 



64 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

6. Criticize constructively and sympathetically 

Our fifth command — to criticize constructively and 
sympathetically — can be habitual only with those 
teachers who are quickly responsive in mind and heart 
— intellectually able to note possibilities to improve 
the theme and temperamentally able to offer this criti- 
cism in the spirit of genuine cooperation. It would be 
impossible to estimate how many promising writers 
have had their spirit and ambition thwarted by the 
unintelligent and caustic criticism of some incompe- 
tent instructor — one who has falsely taken pride in 
his smart and frigid comments. 

Constructive and sympathetic criticism can best be 
given by personal conference — student and teacher 
going over the theme together and each getting the 
other's point of view. In large schools, where this is 
impossible, the spirit of helpfulness can be developed 
by the tone of the comment. No student is going to do 
his best in an atmosphere where the instructor takes 
cynical delight in a writer's faults. Such criticism be- 
gets repression and excites only colorless creation. 

On the other hand, the true critic is going " to en- 
deavor to see the thing as in itself it really is"; he is 
therefore going to point out the perceived defects and 
the perceived virtues with equal candor. Where the 
theme can be strengthened by a reshifting of para- 
graphs, by the omission of one sentence here and the 
inclusion of another there, by complete recasting — in 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 65 

i 

short, where any improvement can be made, the critic 

should make insistent effort to detect it. Having 
detected it, he will offer his aid in the spirit of genuine 
helpfulness. Where a theme is so bad that it needs to 
be rewritten, the instructor will not content himself 
with a laconic direction, — ■ Rewrite, — he will offer 
Constructive aid for the rewriting. 

To carry out this work in the spirit suggested, the 
teacher should first read the theme entire in order to 
detect the general intent and tone. Certain impressions 
he may then record — Shows genuine feeling; Reveals 
accurate knowledge of details; Fails to carry conviction; 
Good in thought but careless in phrasing; Too obvious in 
its structure; You have made us see the picture; Original 
in conception; Adequate vocabulary; Not clearly enoug 
conceived; Chronological sequence carefully observed; 
Lacks logical arrangement; Too many short sentences; 
Faulty paragraphing. Such comments as these last 
three should be supported by specific designation of 
the faults and by definite suggestions for improvement. 
Attention will constantly be directed to all elementary 
lapses. 

The teacher's final judgment of a particular theme 
is in the best current practice registered by some desig- 
nated mark — usually by the letters, A, B, C, D, E. 
In many schools the custom is to mark on a percentage 
basis. While the weight of authority favors the reten- 
tion of the practice of grading themes, there are serious 
objections to it. The most serious is the danger of sub- 



i 



66 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

jective judgment. 1 Every test that has been made 
proves that even the most expert markers vary widely 
in the grades assigned to given themes. A variation of 
fifty or sixty points is not unusual. All this disparity 
has suggested the need of a device that would secure 
truer and more uniform results, and sincere efforts 
have been made in that direction, the most notable of 
these being the Hillegas Scale and the Harvard-Newton 
Scale. 2 Each of these is suggestive, but neither has 

1 Cf. H. H. Holmes's and W. S. Learned's discussion of the Hil- 
legas Scale, English Leaflet, no. 104. 

2 Some of the more important results of scientific measurement in 
the field of English are found in the following list: — 

K^The Fourteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of 
jmZdueation, part i, chapter vn. 
I Ballou, Frank W. Scales for the Measurement of Composition. Har- 
vard-Newton Bulletin, no. 2, September, 1914. 

Briggs, Thomas H. "Formal English Grammar as a Discipline," 
Teachers College Record, xiv, no. 41, September, 1913. 

Courtis, S. A. "Standard Tests in English," Elementary School 
Teacher, xiv, no. 8, April, 1914. 

Hillegas, Milo B. "A Scale for the Measurement of Quality in 
English Composition, by Young People," Teachers College Record, 
xin, no. 4, September, 1912. 

Johnson, Franklin W. "The Hillegas-Thorndike Scale for Meas- 
urement of Quality in English Composition by Young People, 
School Review, xxi, no. 1, January, 1913. 

Kelly, Frederick James. "Teachers' Marks: Their Variability and 
Standardization," Teachers College, Columbia University, Contribu- 
tions to Education, no. 66. 1914. 

Earhart, Gertrude, and Small, Jennie. English in the Elementary 
School, xvi, no. 1, September, 1915. 

Hosic, James Fleming. "The Essentials of Composition and 
Grammar," School and Society, I, no. 17, April 24, 1915. 

Charters, W. W., and Miller, Edith. A Course of Study in Gram- 
mar. University of Missouri Bulletin, no. 16. 

No. 2, Education Series 9. 



COMPOSITION AND ITS ESSENTIALS 67 

proved itself adequate as an objective means of accu- 
rate measurement of composition values. Indeed, the 
constructors of the scales would doubtless not argue 
such a possibility. They look upon the device as a 
means of securing a greater degree of accuracy and 
uniformity in ratings. Professor Neilson, of Harvard, 
has voiced a prevailing sentiment in the English Leaf- 
let (January, 1913) : — 

It is important to notice that the proper field for the 
application of such a scale, even when perfected, is in judging 
the proficiency of pupils with a view to promotion or trans- 
ference from one institution to another. There are other and 
far better tests possible for purely teaching purposes; and it 
would be unfortunate if so .external a method of judging 
results were used in classroom work, in which the teacher 
needs to judge his pupil's attainment with reference to more 
specific defects than can be revealed by any such scale. 

Behind this question of scales and objective measure- 
ments is the notion of generating the impulse to write 
and to give the student power to view his own work 
critically. The preconceived end of all teaching effort 
should be to transfer the critical function from the 
teacher to the writer — to develop in the student the 



Gerrish, Carolyn M. "The Work of the Committee on Standard 
in English," Education, xxxvi, no. 1, October, 1915. 

Starch, Daniel. "The Measurement of Efficiency in Reading," 
Journal of Educational Psychology, vi, no. 1, January, 1915. 

Starch, Daniel. Educational Measurements, Macmillan, 1916. 

Thorndike, Edward L. " The Measurement of Ability in Reading," 
Teachers College Record, xv, no. 4, September, 1914. 

Freeman, Frank N. Experimental Education, Houghton Mifflin 
Company. 



68 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

power to see his own composition virtues and his own 
composition faults. He should learn to be his own 
severe critic, but he should likewise cultivate respon- 
siveness to his own merits — a proper degree of appre- 
ciation intermingled with a proper degree of censure. 
Where the teacher has established this attitude in the 
mind of each pupil, we may rest assured that that 
teacher's own criticism has been both constructive and 
sympathetic. He has been more intent on developing 
force than in discovering faults. In the meantime this 
same teacher has all the while been diligently carrying 
out the spirit that forms the base of the preceding four 
imperatives that he has adopted as his guides. 



CHAPTER V 

ORAL COMPOSITION 

Oral composition, as we have now come to use the 
term, is not applied to the short, informal, and frag- 
mentary answers that we so often get in our classroom 
work; it is applied to the longer and more carefully 
planned reports, descriptions, narrations, explanations, 
or arguments that the pupils have prepared to give 
orally before their classmates — largely such themes 
as they might have given had they taken the pains 
to write them out. Drill in this type of work has be- 
come more insistent with the growth of the conception 
that skill in oral expression is not likely to develop by 
any haphazard process. We have learned that we must 
apply to these oral units the same systematic care, the 
same clear prevision, and the same technical execution 
that we apply to the preparation and the execution of 
the written theme. Necessity for this drill is the more 
easily apparent when we recall the fact that oral de- 
mands are incalculably more frequent and more in- 
sistent than are written demands; and to ignore prac- 
tice and the inculcation of high ideals to meet these 
requirements is to ignore what is perhaps the most 
important element in the educative process. 

In working out this problem of oral composition in 



70 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

high-school practice, teachers have come to lay stress 
upon three things: (1) the assignment; (2) the perform- 
ance; and (3) the criticism. 

1. Assignments in oral theme work 

Usually too little time and forethought are given to 
the assignment of lessons; too little is offered the stu- 
dent in the way of workable suggestions; too little 
endeavor is made to stimulate to unusual performance. 
Judicious care will, of course, guard against making 
the performance too ceremonious, too momentous; for 
always we must preserve simplicity, naturalness, and 
appropriateness. 

Perhaps the easiest start is with the incident. Dur- 
ing the vacation most of us have experienced some- 
thing a bit out of the ordinary — an automobile acci- 
dent, a mishap to the motor-boat, a fishing fiasco, a 
fall from a hay wagon, a visit to a literary shrine, an 
adventure in the dark, a tennis match, a ride on the 
old Indian trail, a visit to a life-saving station, a lost 
pocket-book, a punishment we did not deserve. Any 
of these well worked up — fanciful details may be 
innocently added — will be interesting to tell and 
interesting to listen to. 

In advising that these incidents be well worked up, 
we must warn the pupils against committing their 
themes to memory. " Preparation," we shall tell them, 
"does not mean the selection of your exact vocabulary 
— though to your vocabulary you could properly give 



ORAL COMPOSITION 71 

some vigorous thought; it means knowing the exact 
details you are going to include and knowing the exact 
arrangement of these details. This means, of course, 
that you will know how you are going to start and how 
you are going to close, for the beginning and the end 
are of prime importance." 

In addition to the incident, there are many suitable 
subjects that lend themselves admirably to this oral 
treatment. The list below suggests some varied types: 

1. How to make certain things. 

2. How to do certain things. 

3. A description of a shrapnel shell. 1 

4. A description of an hydraulic press. 1 

5. The way modern forts are constructed. 1 

6. Reproduction of short stories and legends. 

7. Peculiar customs of certain places — in the United 
States and in foreign lands. 

8. Family traditions. 

9. New fields of activity for women. 

10. How to sell real estate. 

11. How to sell goods. 

12. Hardships of various occupations. 

13. The rewards of various occupations. 

14. Peculiarities of literary men. 

15. Stories about famous characters. 

16. A brief review of a recent novel. 

17. The way a submarine torpedo is fired. 

18. The dangers of the forest. 

19. The work of a threshing crew. 

20. How tether-ball is played. 

As one of the aims of oral composition should be to 
teach exact listening — an end and aim too frequently 

1 For this it is well to have a blackboard sketch. 



72 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ignored in most of our schools — an exercise of this 
sort has been successful in its practical working. Each 
member of the class has been asked to teach some- 
thing not well known by the rest; for example: — 

1. How lacrosse is played. 

2. How lobsters are caught. 

3. How sorghum molasses is made. 

4. The process of tanning leather. 

5. Cranberry culture. 

6. The culture and the manufactured forms of tobacco. 

7. Wheat harvesting and threshing. 

8. The making of shoes. 

9. Moulding cast-iron. 

10. The manufacture of window-glass. 

11. The manufacture of buttons. 

12. Silk manufacture. 

As a part of the preparation for this assignment, 
each pupil prepares five specific questions designed to 
enforce the main points in his explanation, and thus 
test the listening powers of the class. Coincidentally 
the pupil will, of course, be testing himself on his 
explaining power. 

There are countless other devices for arousing inter- 
est: the organization of the class into a literary society 
with a program committee; speeches at an imaginary 
class dinner twenty years from to-day; various forms 
of debate, formal and informal; a current-events 
club; a "talk around" (best arranged in a large room 
where, with chairs placed in a circle, the pupils seated 
speak in turn on any subjects they choose) ; a book 
club, where each one tells of the book he has just read 



ORAL COMPOSITION 73 

or is now reading; or a "hobby day," where each dis- 
cusses his own hobby. 

In the senior year many of us will find it expedient 
to make most of the oral theme assignments center 
around the literature work. After spending most of 
the apportioned time on an author, — Wordsworth, let 
us say, — we may tell the class that we shall, within a 
few days, ask for an oral report, saying in effect this: 
"Next Tuesday we shall finish our work on Words- 
worth. On Wednesday we shall have an oral theme 
on Wordsworth or on some related topic. We shall not 
bother about the main facts — we know he was born 
in 1770, that he was educated at Hawkshead and Cam- 
bridge, that he died in 1850. Each of you will please 
find out something about Wordsworth that you think 
no one else is likely to know — some of his minor 
experiences, some of his interesting associations, an 
incident connected with some particular poem, or 
event, or place. We want to help each other by bring- 
ing to the class this interesting information. Some of 
you will find significant details about Wordsworth's 
relations with Coleridge, or Lamb, or Southey, or 
De Quincey, or his brother John or his sister Dorothy. 
Or, if you prefer, talk about one of the poems we 
have n't taken up in class. In a word, take any Words- 
worth topic you please, provided it be genuinely inter- 
esting and genuinely instructive." Such an assignment 
sends the pupils browsing in the library, — appropri- 
ate books being suggested, — and in their search they 



74 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

get much information that otherwise would escape 
them. 

There are, of course, many other kinds of assign- 
ments that resourceful teachers employ; the ones we 
have mentioned are merely for suggestive purposes. 
The essential thing is to assign them in such a way as 
to make them concretely suggestive and to arouse such 
a spirit of emulation as will secure a high plane of 
performance. Emphasis must finally fall upon two 
main motives — thoroughness of the preparation and 
a genuine desire to bring this beautiful and vigorous 
English language under easily obedient sway. 

To secure the thorough preparation we have here 
discussed many teachers find it advisable to demand a 
written outline prepared on cards that are given out 
when the assignment is made. On the day appointed 
for the theme these outlines should be collected at the 
beginning of the hour, for a pupil should not be per- 
mitted to use his notes while giving his theme. The 
preparation should be so thorough that no written 
guide should be in his hand — the unwritten guide 
should be in his head. A few of these outline cards are 
here reproduced : — 

A Modern Beehive and Its Occupants 

I. The hive. 

A. The lower chamber. 

B. The upper chamber. 



ORAL COMPOSITION 75 

II. The bees. 

A. Early spring. 

1. The workers. 

2. The structure of the cells. 

3. Diseases of the bees. 

B. Mid-season. 

1. The battle of the queens. 

2. "Swarming." 

3. The new home. 

C. Autumn. 

1, Stores. 

2. Preparations for winter. 

A Trip to Catalina Island 

I. The journey out. 

A. By electric car to Los Angeles. 

B. By rail to San Pedro. 

C. By steamer to Catalina. 

1. Seasickness. 

2. Appearance of the island. 
II. The stay at Catalina. 

A. Lunch at the Metropole. 

B. The seals. 

C. The glass-bottomed boats. 

D. The submarine gardens. 

1. Great kelp. 

2. Sea-heather. 

3. Sea-cucumbers 

4. Sea-urchins 

5. Goldfish. 

6. Rock bass. > 

7. Perch. 

E. Divers for — 

1. Abalone shells. 

2. Coins. 
III. The return. 

A. Fishing-boat followed by gulls. 

B. Arrival at Hotel Green. 



76 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

A Clam-Bake 

I. Importance of location. 
II. Preparation. 

A. Making sandwiches and packing doughnuts. 

B. Building stone oven. 

C. Collecting wood. 
HI. The bake. 

A. Clams, potatoes, etc., in oven covered with sea- 
weed. 

B. The coffee over separate fire. 

C. The butter dip ready. 

D. Signal for uncovering. 
IV. After the feast. 

A. Singing around the fire. 

B. Strolling on the beach. 

C. Sail home by moonlight. 

Climbing the Great Pyramid 

I. The journey to the pyramid. 

A. The drive to the Mena House. 

1. Scenery on the way. 

B. The ride from the Mena House to the pyramid. 

1. Donkeys and donkey boys. 
II. The ascent. 

A. Colors. 

B. Arab helpers. 

C. Difficulties. 
IH. The top. 

A. View. 

B. Carvings. 

C. The song. 

IV. The descent. 

A. Remarks of the Arabs. 

V. The drive home. 

A. Sunset behind the pyramids. 



ORAL COMPOSITION 77 

A Toboggan Ride in July 

I. Introduction. 

A. It was in Madeira. 

B. Ship en route to Naples called there. 
II. Body of composition. 

A. The toboggan. 

1. It was a huge wicker basket. 

(a) It was fitted up with a seat and with 
runners. 

B. The guides. 

1. The control of the toboggan. 

2. They were agile, avaricious, and thirsty. 

C. The road. 

1. It was narrow and steep. 

2. It was paved with rough cobble stones. 

D. The effects upon the occupants. 

1. We were almost breathless from the speed. 

2. We were filled with terror. 
m. Conclusion. 

A. We were happy in the realization that it was over. 

A Friend 

I. General appearance. 

A. Stature. 

B. Features. 

C. Clothing. 
II. Character. 

A. Good qualities. 

1. Honesty. 

2. Kindness. 

3. Loyalty. 

B. Bad qualities. 

1. Stinginess. 

2. Laziness. 
HI. Mind. 

A. Wonderful memory. 
IV. What people think of him. 



78 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

A Visit to the Life-Saving Station 

I. Introduction. 

A. Occasion of visit. 
II. Development. 

A. The station. 

1. Men. 

2. Building and equipment. 

B. Object and method. 

1. Patrol. 

2. Ships in distress. 

C. Drills. 

1. Gun and boat drill. 

2. Signaling. 

(a) International Code. 

(1) Indoors. 

(2) Outdoors. 
(6) Wigwagging. 

in. Conclusion. 

A. Our departure. 

A Modern Miracle 
I. Introduction. 

A. Torre dell' Annunziata as I saw it. 

1. The street blocked with lava. 

2. The Church of Santa Anna. 

(a) The cemetery wall at right angles. 
II. The story. 

A. The eruption of Vesuvius. 

1. The descent of the lava stream. 

2. The terror of the peasants. 

(a) The assembling in the church. 

3. The procession of priests with the statue. 

4. The abrupt halting of lava. 

5. "A Miracle!" 
III. Conclusion. 

A. Failure of science to explain. 

B. "A freak of nature"; or, 

"Even as a grain of mustard seed." 



ORAL COMPOSITION 79 

2. Performance in oral theme work 

The giving of this theme — the 1 * performance — is 
of course the most difficult and important feature of 
the work. The pupil, standing before his classmates, 
narrates his incident, explains his mechanical device, 
tells of customs in other places, defends some current 
political issue, reports on some literary topic — in a 
word, carries out the design which his submitted out- 
line has sketched. If he has made careful preparation, 
and if he is able to add to the assurance that comes 
from careful preparation the consciousness that he has 
something new and interesting to tell the class, the 
chances are that he will give a successful theme. When 
he has finished, he may either take his seat or remain 
in his standing position and await the oral criticism of 
his mates. Another method for occasional use is to dis- 
tribute several slips of paper to each student. When 
the student giving the theme has finished, the other 
members of the class write out a criticism on their 
respective slips, each one signing his name to his criti- 
cism. At the end of the hour, — or at some later period 
if the teacher prefers to look over these criticisms, — 
the respective criticism slips are handed to those who 
have recited. The nature of this criticism we may now 
discuss; the discussion should bring to light most of 
the merits and defects of the performance, and should, 
at the same time, provide knowledge for increasingly 
intelligent criticisms. 



80 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

3. Criticism in oral theme work 

Criticism of oral themes is most effective if made by 
the students themselves; the impress is deeper and the 
reaction quicker. It is necessary, however, that the 
teacher in the beginning of the work should make 
every endeavor to generate the right atmosphere — 
the atmosphere of perfect candor and genuine altru- 
ism. Each member of the class must feel that he is 
there to help and be helped; and he must therefore be 
continually alert in these two ways and be ready to 
increase the influence that comes from this socializing 
work. The teacher will take every precaution to make 
this criticism as systematic and intelligent as possible. 
For this purpose he may find it helpful gradually to 
develop in analytical form the points he wishes criti- 
cized. He may keep before the class this brief black- 
board outline for available application to each theme: 

Criticism of an oral theme 
I. Structure. 

A. Unity of whole composition and paragraphs. 

B. Coherence of whole composition and paragraphs. 

C. Emphasis of whole composition and paragraphs. 
II. Style. 

A. Grammar. 

B. Vocabulary. 

C. Arrangement of words and phrases in the sentence. 
III. Delivery. 

A. Ease and posture. 

B. Correct pronunciation. 

C. Enunciation. 

D. Voice. 



ORAL COMPOSITION 81 

I. Structure. Criticism on the structure of the 
whole composition considers the beginning, the mid- 
dle, the end, or — to borrow a figure from horseback 
riding — the mounting, the canter, the dismounting. 
Criticism of these points involves consideration of the 
grace and effectiveness of each of these items. The 
continuation of the criticism on structure considers 
the unity, coherence, and emphasis of the whole com- 
position and the paragraphs. To these it applies the 
three respective tests: — ■ 

1. Do all the parts combine to develop a single central 
idea? 

2. Do all the parts dovetail nicely? 

3. Are all the parts appropriately placed and appropri- 
ately apportioned? 

To the scrutiny of the paragraphing of oral themes 
too little critical attention has formerly been paid. The 
indentation of oral paragraphs should be marked by a 
pause, a natural shifting of position, and by appropri- 
ate modulation — usually the lowered tone, combined 
with a slight decrease in the rate of speed. These nat- 
ural devices indicate, as the indentation of the written 
theme indicates, a new phase in the development of 
the theme. The more marked the change, the more 
significant will be the pause and the shift in position 
and the decreased rate of speed. Failure on the part 
of any student to carry out any of these suggestions 
should be noted in the class comment. 

II. Style. Into the subtle niceties of style our high- 



82 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

school criticism will not deeply penetrate. Instead, we 
shall keep out comment pretty close to the externals 
and consider style chiefly from the standpoint of (1) 
grammar, (2) vocabulary, and (3) sentence structure. 

A. Grammar. Most of the mistakes in grammar the 
students will readily detect. A careless verb form, 
however, may often escape their notice. We too fre- 
quently hear the colloquial dove for dived, will for shall, 
would for should, went for gone, the misuse of got, can 
for may, and the indiscriminate use of sit and set, raise 
and rise. There is the student's constant failure to 
note the correct principal parts of such words as 
awoke, blow, break, burst, grow, heat, drown, ride, shine, 
show, slay, throw, flee, fly, flow, and ring. 

One of the most common misuses of verb forms in 
the more advanced classes is illustrated in such sen- 
tences as follow: — 

1. Each of us boys were invited. 

2. Either John or George were to go. 

3. This row of students were most industrious. 

4. Richard, with all his sisters, were thrown down the 
embankment. 

5. The substance and the form of the debate is being con- 
sidered. 

6. There goes John and Henry now. 

Errors in the use of pronouns are frequent in sen- 
tences like the following : — 

1. If any one knows let them raise their hand. 

2. There is little difference between him and I. 
S. The herd lost their leader. 

4. I disapprove of novel-reading and seldom read them. 



ORAL COMPOSITION 83 

5. He is the man whom I think is the culprit. 

6. I thought it was them. 

7. I thought the burglars to be they. 

Recurring errors of this type should be persistently 
attacked, and repeated drill should finally eliminate 
them. One of the most flagrant of these errors is the 
misuse of like for as. Determine to eradicate it. 

After careful explanation and many examples of 
correct use, provide such daily drill as follows: — 

1. He looks like his brother. 

2. The house looks like it was a hospital. 

3. The birds sang like it might rain. 

4. This station looks like it had been painted. 

5. That garden looks like mine. 

6. Those papers were printed like advertisements. 

7. This carpet wore out like it was a cheap one. 

8. These flowers faded like they were poisoned. 

9. The chair rocked like some one were sitting in it. 
10. There were men who talked like Syrians. 

Every day, until every member of the class habitually 
gets 100 per cent, give ten sentences similar to these, 
letting the class simply mark the numbers right and 
wrong. The dash is used to designate the sentences 
that are wrong. 



1 


6 


2- 


7 


3- 


8- 


4- 


9- 


5 


10 



Do not let them write out the whole sentence. The 
decision should be swift. 
It is necessary oftentimes to dwell upon the question 



84 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of idiom as distinct from provincialism. Most of us 
have unconsciously adopted some incorrect expressions 
common to our community and we have accepted them 
with the same confidence that we have accepted our 
childish political and religious bias. We shall therefore 
need to correct such expressions as the following: — 

1. I did n't get to go. 

2. I want off at Tenth Street. 

3. The cat wants in. 

4. Billings and Co. have failed up. 

5. I got in the team and rode off. 

6. I want that you should go. 

7. May I borrow that knife off of him? 

8. He had n't ought to have gone. 

9. He looked for it all over (everywhere). 

On the other hand, here are some expressions that 
are correct idioms: — 

1. I had rather not accept. 

2. I had better refuse. 

3. He is a physician than whom there is none better in the 
city. 

4. I am reading somebody's else book — or somebody 
else's book. 

B. Vocabulary. One of the first things the class will 
admire in a theme is the mastery of an adequate vocab- 
ulary. Nice distinctions and extent of range may not 
be within the critic's immediate power, but apprecia- 
tion of this skill is within his power, and very frequently 
his personal comment will be in praise of this particular 
attainment. Moreover, this appreciation is one of the 
most effective incentives to future attainments. What 



ORAL COMPOSITION 85 

can we do to encourage each one to add to his " word- 
hoard"? Here are some suggestions. 

1. Require each member of the class to keep a notebook 
in which all new words are recorded. This makes all 
the pupils more watchful of the words they see in print. 

2. Place upon the blackboard certain unusual but appro- 
priately selected words used in a certain set of themes — 
oral or written. 

3. In each written theme require the use of at least one 
new word. 

4. Require five synonyms of five selected words: e.g., 
beautiful, interesting, skillful, little, morass. 

5. Make a list of twenty common nouns that designate 
the names of supernatural beings similar to fairies. 

6. See how many specific names you can list under the 
general term house. 

7. Translate the following current slang into the phrases 
that would be used by 

(1) an old lady; 

(2) a college professor; 

(3) by you if you were talking to your English 
teacher: — 

a. A tin-horn sport. 

b. A squealer. 

c. A pippin. 

d. To fly the coop. 

e. To be fired. 

/. Some cheese (he thought he was). 

g. Your own favorite slang phrase. (Find 
always the up-to-date slang most used by 
your own pupils. They will contribute the 
material.) 

8. Find your own pet expression and translate it in five 
different ways, applying it to varied subjects. Take, 
for example, the expression perfectly wonderful. What 
synonyms would apply instead of that as used about 
(1) an orchard; (2) an opera; (3) a cake; (4) a moun- 
tain view. 



86 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

9. Instead of awful find eight substitutes to apply to 
(1) an automobile accident; (2) a headache; (3) a fail- 
ure in business; (4) a lecture that was disappointing. 

10. Be absolutely accurate in all your translations from a 
foreign language. 

11. Saturate your memories with well-selected verse and 
prose. 

12. Observe carefully every passing phenomenon and apply 
the proper name: e.g., oxidation, fertilization, combus- 
tion, electrolysis. 

13. Learn all the specific names you can under such general 
terms as fish, birds, shells, plants, trees, and animals. 

14. Make careful study of the dictionary. 

Daily and persistent practice along these lines will 
make us dissatisfied with the drab and the platitudi- 
nous. We shall seek for colors — not too dazzling — 
and for novelties — not too daring. Our endeavor will 
not be to employ the phrase for the sake of the phras- 
ing but to employ the newer word because it reflects 
our more precise thinking and our more intense feeling. 
The more we know the better we phrase, and the 
better we phrase the more we know. 

Arrangement of words and phrases in the sentence. 

Of equal importance with the choice of words is the 

arrangement of words. A student asked to assume the 

function of the critic will soon grow more sensitive to 

the violation of coherence, 1 emphasis, and variety, and 

will easily come to recognize the charm and force that 

rest in effective structure. In the beginning of this 

oral composition work it may be well to pause upon 

1 Unity is here omitted because its violation is not so much de- 
pendent upon arrangement as upon choice of material. 



ORAL COMPOSITION 87 

certain of these common violations, such as are illus- 
trated in the following sentences: — 

Violation of coherence: — 

1. Laboring under a heavy burden, we lazily stood and 
watched the staggering man as he hurried up the 
mountain. 

2. The lions having escaped from their cages, they spoke 
of recapturing them. 

3. Having come to the pier, the water looked beautiful. 

4. This selection is unusual, but it is of highest merit. 

5. He is strong and good and he is a fine scholar. 

6. I was restless, so I left the hall. 

7. In conclusion, let me urge you to do better. 

Violation of emphasis: — 

1. His instincts are criminal, vulgar, — even unkind. 

2. I heard the terrible crash, even though I entered late. 

8. The man was a gross impostor, he said. 

4. Of all the various forms of drama I prefer tragedy, I 
think. 

5. I was tired, and sick, and restless, and everything. 

Nature abhors other things besides a vacuum; she 
abhors monotony. She never repeats her sunsets, her 
mountain shapes, or her cloud formations. Her land- 
scapes and her waterscapes delight us with the charm 
of their infinite varieties. Long-continued uniformity 
is always irksome. Because we dislike it in language 
we change our sentence forms. Some are declarative, 
some imperative, some interrogative, and some ex- 
clamatory. Other forms we differentiate by such fa- 
miliar terms as short or long, or simple, complex, or 
compound. Rhetorically we distinguish certain sen- 
tences as loose, others as periodic. The points to insist 



88 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

upon with our pupils is that no one of these is neces- 
sarily better or worse than another; effectiveness in 
structure demands a judicious mixture. We shall 
affect neither the simplicity of the First Reader nor 
the circumlocution of Dr. Johnson. 

Upon the common violations of variety we and 
our pupil-critics must wage incessant war. The most 
flagrant fault is the intrusion of the and. It recurs with 
such appalling frequency that our ingenuity is severely 
taxed. We place a long list of other appropriate 
connectives — coordinate and subordinate — n the 
board; we reteach the uses of the principal and the 
subordinate clause and make the class memorize this 
definite command: Express subordinate ideas in sub- 
ordinate form. When these instructions had all failed 
one teacher formulated this suggestion : — 

Provide one boy (a well-selected boy) with the class tap- 
bell. Instruct him to tap the bell every time an and is used 
to connect independent statements — not when it connects 
nouns or adjectives. At the tap of the bell the speaker must 
take a backward step in his theme, repeat the previous sen- 
tence, and continue without the and. Do this when the oral 
theme is a report on some definite topic — not when it is a 
spontaneous story. The bell kills all spiritual ilan, but ex- 
poses to the speaker his own frequent lapses. After a brief 
use of the bell, the necessity for it decreases. 

III. Delivery. One of the factors that contribute 
most to effective delivery has already been anticipated 
in what was said about the preparation. If the student 
has chosen a subject in which he is deeply interested, 
if he has made the thorough preparation that creates 



ORAL COMPOSITION 89 

in himself the confidence that immediately puts the 
listeners at their ease, — if he has done these two things 
wisely and well, he should have little trouble or embar- 
rassment in giving his oral theme. Even though he 
knows his classmates are judging him, he instinctively 
feels, if the correct tone of criticism has been rightly 
engendered, that they are judging him fairly; he knows, 
too, that their vision is as keenly alert to merits as it is 
to defects. In feeling the demand for effectiveness in 
his delivery, he knows that the pupils are consider- 
ing: (1) ease and posture; (2) correct pronunciation; 
(3) clear enunciation; (4) the management of the 
voice. 

A. Ease and posture. As perfect ease and correct 
posture are the first things we note in a speaker, and 
are therefore the first elements in securing a favorable 
impression when we ourselves are before the audience, 
we must give them first consideration. With head 
naturally erect, with chest properly expanded, with 
feet placed at an easeful angle, and with hands and 
arms in a natural and free position, we look directly 
into the eyes of our listeners, knowing that in meeting 
them frankly and unabashed we secure in their imme- 
diate response a most direct and sympathetic support. 
Once we have taken care of these preliminaries we 
should immediately become absorbed in our theme, 
but not so absorbed as at any time to ignore that 
!* audience sense " so important for effective speakers 
to possess and to obey. 



90 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

We should not in this beginning be alarmed at the 
feeling of nervousness; for nervousness, we have 
learned, is common to the most gifted orators and 
actors, and may be but the preliminary step to the 
most marked success and the most brilliant triumph. 
It can be most readily overcome by concentration 
upon the immediate theme. 

This concentration upon the theme will take care of 
all questions of gesture. If in the 'uthusiasm of the 
occasion we feel the impulse to enforce our point by 
significant gesture, we should do it just as naturally as 
we do in conversation with our friends. Gesture is 
never effective if purely artificial; it is always effective 
if purely natural. 

B. Correct 'pronunciation. There are few things that 
mar oral speech so irreparably as does mispronuncia- 
tion, and to avoid it we must therefore apply the great- 
est care and diligence. We often hear members of the 
older generation say, "I simply can't keep up with 
these new pronunciations." We ourselves shall prob- 
ably make the same excuse in thirty years. And, of 
course, in many specific instances the excuse will be 
justifiable. The mispronunciations of our parents, 
however, are principally due to ignorance; they inher- 
ited the wrong form from their community; they be- 
queathed the wrong form to us; and it is now our busi- 
ness to rid ourselves of this bad inheritance, though 
in the attempt we needs must suffer all the tortures 
exacted by diligence and humility. 



ORAL COMPOSITION 91 



A person may, to be sure, be a " sweet girl," " a good 
mother," " a splendid provider," " a worthy citizen," 
"a pillar of the church," "an exemplary character," 
and his moral virtues will of course overshadow the 
slighter hints of stigma that cling to inherited or ac- 
quired mispronunciation; but we really may be par- 
doned for lamenting that certain ones of our esteemed 
friends persist in saying vodavil, genuine, crick, deef, 
put, defic'it, lament' able, ellum, and lawr and sqfar and 
appendiceetus. 

A few simple suggestions all students should fol- 
low: — 

a. Consult the dictionary in cases where a given pronun- 
ciation is different from yours. 

b. Remember that many words are authoritatively pro- 
nounced in two or more ways. 

c. In reading poetry let the rhyme, in most cases, be one 
of your pronouncing guides; as in again, wind, and 
hearth. 

d. Metrical demands in poetry force us at times to change 
the normal accent of a word, as in the line: — 

Nor once be chastized with the sober eye. 

e. In looking up the new words met in your reading, be as 
particular in learning the pronunciation as in learning 
the definition. 

/. Study diligently the different lists of words commonly 
mispronounced. These lists are printed in various 
rhetorics and by publishers of dictionaries. 

g. Mere knowledge of the correct pronunciation does not 
suffice; be unerring in your practice. Watch your r's, 
your final g's, and give each syllable its full value. 

h. Constantly utilize the knowledge derived from your 
study of foreign languages. Even a slight study of 



92 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Italian, for example, will teach you that the i that fol- 
lows the g is not sounded; it keep3 the g soft, as in 
Giovanni — pronounced Jovanni. 
i. Remember that considerable latitude is due to persons 
from certain portions of the country; we should not be 
too critical of the Southerner's omitted r or the Wes- 
terner's flattened a. 

C. Enunciation. A person whose voice lacks depth 
and carrying power often despairs of making himself 
heard in a large room. These limitations may be par- 
tially overcome by constant drill upon exercises that 
develop clear enunciation. This simply means that 
we shall become habitually attentive to such utterance 
of elementary sounds as will make our speech clear-cut. 
We must give to each letter and to each syllable appro- 
priate values, but we must do this without the sugges- 
tion of over-nicety or affectation. Any woman can learn 
to pronounce prunes and prisms without suggesting 
long curls and prolonged maidenhood. 

Too many of us are grossly careless in these matters; 
we are flagrantly inattentive to distinctions in the 
sound of d's and t's; we fail to differentiate s from z, 
b from 0, the ih in this from the th in think. We are 
equally negligent in giving to each vowel its correct 
and full-measured sound. At the same time that we 
offend in these matters, we are conscious of decided 
irritation when we try to listen to others who mumble 
words and garble sounds that we vainly try to pick up 
and reconstruct into articulate speech. Good morals, 
ethics, and altruism, demand that our reform be de- 



ORAL COMPOSITION 93 

cided and immediate. There is no more excuse for 
slovenly speech than for slovenly dress. 

Poor enunciation is often aggravated in the school- 
room by a curiously suppressed voice. We hear the 
teacher say, "Speak louder, please; the class isn't 
hearing you." Yet we know, from later reverberations 
in the corridors, that there is ample potential lung 
power, and it is our duty to bring this into proper 
cooperation with an improved enunciating skill. 

There are definite drills that books on voice culture 
provide, the specific aims of which are to teach a more 
effective use of the organs of articulation. One un- 
familiar with these drills may accomplish the desired 
result by such an attention upon the main demand 
for clear and distinct tones as makes the practice ha- 
bitual. A few concrete suggestions follow: — 

o. When speaking, keep in mind the listener farthest from 
you. To increase the loudness of your tone may pro- 
duce strain; rely upon clear articulation. 

b. Practice full and deep breathing. 

c. Open your mouth wide enough to allow free exit of 
tones. 

d. Accentuate lip movements. 

e. Make the utterance crisp and prompt. 

/. Clip your end letters sharply — do not let them merge 

indistinctly into the next word. 
g. For the same reason enunciate with special care the 

beginning of the next word. 
h. Study your rate of speed and regulate it to obtain 

distinctness of articulation 

D. Voice management. Many of the suggestions just 
given apply to the general demand for the improve- 



94 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ment of the voice, but voice management embraces 
more than mere enunciation. It lays strong emphasis 
upon that sort of cultivation that secures carrying 
power, flexibility, and musical quality. 

We sometimes wonder why those in the rear of the 
room complain that they do not hear us; we have tried 
to enunciate clearly; we have exerted ourselves to 
secure the proper pitch; and yet we are chagrined that 
the effort has accomplished incommensurate results. 
Our words sound shallow and nerveless. This thinness 
of tone can be improved by the habit of deep breath- 
ing, a breathing that forces the diaphragm into free 
play. Without this muscular action we have little 
tone depth; all the breathing takes place in the upper 
portions of the lungs and allows our tones to be shallow 
and vague. Vocal power is focused too near the lips; 
diaphragmatic breathing helps us to place the focus 
farther back and secure more volume and a resulting 
vibration that does not die a few feet from the mouth. 
We must remember that our vocal cords in themselves 
produce no sound; they are simply the strings that, set 
to vibrating, convey sound. We must have behind 
them power adequate to make this vibration strong. 

When we speak of the flexibility of voice, we have 
in mind its range from low to high — the changes in 
pitch of which it is capable. These changes in speaking 
or reading, when skillfully made, convey the emotion 
that momentarily dominates. We see it at its best in 
the case of a great actor modulating his tones in per- 



ORAL COMPOSITION 95 

feet sympathy with the momentary passion, but there 
is scarcely any speaking situation in our own experi- 
ence that does not call for its exercise. If the student 
giving his oral theme speaks in monotone, — keyed 
too high or too low, — it is our duty and the duty of 
our student-critics to call attention to the fact. Sim- 
ilarly, one who shows skill in modulation should be 
freely commended. 

The musical quality of one's voice, while largely the 
gift of nature, is susceptible of wonderful development. 
We can so guard our breathing that there escapes only 
the amount of breath requisite for proper articulation. 
Unless the amount is kept in reserve the tones become 
breathy and produce the effect of strain — upon both 
speaker and listener. As listeners, we find ourselves 
swallowing frequently and breathing nervously out of 
sympathy for the ineffective speaker. Most of us, un- 
fortunately, lack those compelling charms of Cleopatra, 
who, having lost her breath, spoke, and panted, — 

That she did make defect perfection, 
And, breathless, power breathe forth. 

Musical quality may likewise be developed by 
rounding the tones instead of smothering them by close 
confinement. If we associate with cultured people 
most of this improvement is made unconsciously. We 
thus learn by imitation to prevent the harsh and nasal 
tones from dominating. By bringing our nature under 
firm control and by cultivating calmness of tempera- 
ment we shall quickly accentuate the improvement. 



96 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

% 

We must remember that almost any one can make 

his discordant tone resonant and agreeable, but em- 
phasis upon this improvement most wisely falls upon 
the period of youth when habits are forming and when 
the vocal organs are more easily brought under 
obedience. 

The general and detailed suggestions that are here 
given we teachers shall not pour out in mass; we shall 
distribute them through the course as occasion de- 
mands and as specific violations or unusual excellen- 
cies invite. Our constant endeavor will be to make 
the criticism helpful, constructive, and personal. The 
establishment of high ideals for our students is neces- 
sary before we can get our best results; and these high 
ideals are — to phrase it paradoxically — the base of 
our criticism. It is believed that constant endeavor 
to attain the erected norm in oral speech will secure a 
greater individual mastery and a higher prevailing 
reverence. 



CHAPTER VI 

COOPERATION WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS 

Scene. An English teacher's classroom. 
Geographical location. Anywhere. 
Time. Five p.m. any day. 

The English teacher, the head of his department, 
seated at his desk busily correcting themes. Enter the 
Principal, hurried and somewhat agitated. He frowns 
darkly and looks menacingly as he beholds a some- 
thing in his hand. No pause. 

Mr. Principal. "Look here, Mr. English, I just 
want to show you this paper of David Locker's. Is this 
the sort of English you 're teaching in this school? It 
would disgrace a — a — a — college notebook I I just found 
it in the corridor — slipped out of Mr. History's cor- 
rected set of papers on Hamilton's Financial Policy. 
Not endorsed! Written in lead pencil ! Can you read 
it? — Most of it's too illegible for me; but I counted 
five misspelled words among the few legible ones. 
Notice the crumpled corners! And what do you think 
of this sentence — Hamilton was the first Secretary of 
the Treasury he was from New York! No punctuation! 
I see it says here that he was killed July 11, 1804. 
Mr. History has carefully corrected this to read July 12, 
A few other corrections are made on certain historical 
items and the paper is graded B. No correction — no 



98 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

comments on the English and the slovenly appear- 
ance." As just here a pupil entered and announced 
that some one wanted to speak to Mr. Principal 
over the telephone, the conversation was suddenly 
interrupted. 

But the head of the English department was inter- 
ested, and the next day he asked Miss Elliot to let him 
see some of David Locker's themes. Mr. English was 
interested in contrasting these with the paper that the 
principal had unconsciously left behind him on his 
hurried departure the night before. David's English 
papers were all written in ink; they were legible; they 
were uniformly endorsed. There were, to be sure, a 
few misspellings and verbal corrections on sentence 
structure. Most of the themes were graded C. All of 
these observations enforced one of Mr. English's 
favorite sayings, — "You get from your pupils just 
the sort of work you demand!" 

This little incident is not purely imaginary. It is 
being reproduced every day in a thousand schools. We 
should reform it altogether, as in many schools it has 
been reformed in part. In a previous chapter attention 
is called to the fact that we as English teachers have 
oftentimes been negligent in accepting the opportuni- 
ties that other departments offer us; we may here 
emphasize the fact that teachers in other departments 
are sometimes negligent in supporting the instruction 
in English. 



COOPERATION 99 

None of us, it should be emphasized, are unmindful 
of the help that the English staff is constantly receiving 
from members of other departments — members de- 
voted to the proficiency of English as well as to their 
own particular subject. AH of us know teachers of 
history, of science, of foreign languages, of mathe- 
matics, and of other subjects, who are giving ungrudg- 
ing pains to the correction of errors both in spoken 
English and in written English. And while we com- 
mend them we assert that they are but doing their 
unquestioned duty V the duty which their election 
and their position assume. Without insistent watch- 
fulness upon the part of every one connected with 
the school, the authorities are all the while per- 
mitting wanton waste and extravagance — it is like 
trying to fill a bathtub with the stopper out. There is 
lamentable leakage in our English instruction at the 
best — the street, the illiterate home, the cheap the- 
ater, the cheap magazine, the general laxity in which 
we are all immersed. This being true, the responsibility 
that rests upon every member of the teaching staff — 
non-English as well as English — is sacred; correct- 
ness in the manner of expression deserves almost as 
much care as correctness in the matter expressed. 

The English teacher alone may do something. He 
may insist that every paper or written report or exam- 
ination connected with the literature assignments be 
carefully written in ink on uniform theme paper and 
conform unalterably to the same rigid demands that 



100 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

are exacted in the regularly assigned compositions. All 
oral reports and all classroom comments must meet, 
as nearly as possible, the rigorous standards of the 
assigned oral compositions. In a word, our ideal for 
the entire output is a " well of English undefined." Poor 
English on a literature examination may alone be the 
legitimate excuse for the teacher's low mark. 

Psychological reason for this is easily demonstrated 
— as any one wishing authoritative assurance may 
readily discover by reading William James's chapter 
on Habit. Correct English — grammatical accuracy, 
conventional spelling, proper distribution of commas 
and semicolons and periods, accepted pronunciation, 
the right forms of sentence structure — these cannot 
be said to be successfully attained until they come to 
be used with some degree of automatic skill, just as a 
practiced typewriter spaces her words subconsciously. 
Suppose she did not shift the carriage of her machine 
except when under the surveillance of some one of the 
twenty or thirty persons in the office. What sort of 
manuscript would she produce? And how high would 
the employer rate her efficiency? 

In discussing this theme before the New York City 
Association of High-School Teachers of English, Mr. 
R. T. Congdon, Inspector of English for the State of 
New York, used the following illustration : — 

Perhaps some of you occasionally wander far enough away 
from New York City to have seen the rather unusual type of 
dam that is used in the barge canal construction work on the 



COOPERATION 101 

Mohawk River. There is a type of dam which I shall describe 
as a "spoon dam" or "dipper dam." There stretches across 
the river a bridgelike support. Spoons or dippers swing hinge- 
like from this and when they are together, side by side in the 
stream, they constitute the dam which holds back the cur- 
rent. I was riding past one of these dams some time ago when 
I noticed that perhaps one third of the dippers were in place 
and I looked to see what effect this had upon the height of 
the water. The effect was practically nothing; the water was 
at almost the same height behind and at the sides of these 
dippers. It seems to me that this is a most apt illustration of 
what we are trying to do in English composition teaching. 
When we can, by some means or other, bring it about that 
all teachers as one will insist upon some standard, simple as 
it may be, then, and not till then, can we hope to hold back 
the stream of crude and ineffective English in our schools. 
I do not see how it is possible to do it in any other way. 



These are broad generalizations and most of the 
criticism is merely the analysis of prevailing neglects. 
What can we English teachers offer in the way of 
specific constructive criticism? For our wish is to help 
and not to censure. There follow a number of sugges- 
tions that may prove helpful to schools with no syste- 
matic scheme of cooperation. 

1. The first suggestion is one already emphasized 
in Chapter IV. 'Eet English teachers in their composi- 
tion work — oral and written — make free use of the 
materials offered by the other departments. This is 
not merely for conciliation and cordial comradeship; 
it is an opportunity for us to supply our pupils with 
live topics. We conserve an interest already aroused 
and direct it into an unsuspected channel. A girl who 



102 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

takes an interest in translating French will have this 
interest stimulated if she knows that her English 
teacher will, by cooperation, encourage a more accu- 
rate and a more elegant rendering. If she has skill in 
verse-making she may translate a French poem into 
an English poem and submit the effort as her next 
English theme. Knowledge that two teachers are in- 
terested will stimulate to stronger effort and higher 
attainment. 

2. The English teacher may cooperate by occasional 
use of the textbooks used by other departments — 
language or history or science or mathematics. In con- 
nection with exposition and argumentation, the geom- 
etry text may be presented in a new light and the logic 
of argumentation significantly enforced. Some teach- 
ers have likewise found it extremely helpful to use it 
as a means to more intelligent paragraph structure. 
A textbook on science may be employed to illustrate 
how clearly the English language has been used to 
explain the process of oxidation, fertilization, or any 
one of the scores of interesting processes that are con- 
stantly at work in nature. Rhetorical principles such 
as unity, coherence, emphasis, variety in sentence 
structure — all these may be definitely illustrated. Or 
we may use the text in a literature lesson and point 
out the author's graphic use of words and the general 
effectiveness of his style. Our fundamental reason for 
this use of non-English texts is to enforce the idea of 
the infinite variety and the commanding extent of our 



COOPERATION 103 

language. It is the great agency for making ideas pre- 
vail. The pupil, seeing its employment noted in the 
English class in all these varied ways, will begin to feel 
more keenly the comprehensively dominating power 
of the English language. Coincidentally with this, he 
should feel the stimulus for greater mastery and learn 
that opportunity for this mastery is present in every 
classroom — and in scores of places besides. 

3. The corollary to the foregoing suggestion is the 
occasional use by non-English teachers of the English 
textbooks. History offers constant opportunity and 
the opportunities are exhaustless in extont and variety. 
From a book of selections that lies on my desk as I 
write, I open at random to Tennyson's The Revenge. 
What a splendid illumination a reading of that poem 
would shed over those pages of history that tell of the 
Spanish Armada! Yet how few history teachers know 
the poem, and among those who know it how few 
utilize it! ~Qr how many of the science teachers, I won- 
der, have made any use of Huxley's A Piece of Chalk. 
In science, likewise, the opportunities are well-nigh 
exhaustless. 

(4. At the general teachers' meeting the principal 
should ask a member of the English department to 
spend a few moments in commenting upon one or two 
types of recurring errors. We are assuming that every 
alert principal has urged each member in the corps to 
mark the ungrammatical forms, the misspellings, the 
wrong capitalizations, the illiterate punctuations, and 



104 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

all other elementary errors. Is it too much to ask each 
teacher to help us to correct the grosser violations of 
sentence structure?^. Here is this persistent "run-on" 
sentence or the " comma blunder" — We performed the 
experiment, it illustrated the principles of the hydraulic 
press. May we not entreat the physics teacher to 
"blue-pencil" the comma and insert the semicolon? 
The English language is this teacher's class tool just 
as much as it is our class tool; and persistency along 
English lines — because it generates care and accuracy 
— will help him in his science instruction as much as 
it helps us in our English instruction. 

5. All departments of a particular school should use 
uniform paper and encourage the habitual use of ink 
or type. Perhaps no scientist has yet written upon the 
psychology of ink. We are greatly in doubt about 
many things connected with it. We are not quite sure 
at what stage of the pupil's progress its virtue-com- 
pelling qualities assert their power. We simply know 
from experience that the command to a pupil to pre- 
pare his exercise in ink tends to greater care and to 
more accurate thinking. In abnormal cases — where 
circumstances allow — one can go further and order 
the work to be typewritten. In other instances certain 
pupils should take a course in printing. In The Eng- 
lish Leaflet for May, 1914, the correlation values of 
printing and English are fully elaborated by Mr. 
Walter S. Hinchman, of the Groton School. He writes 
as follows : — 



COOPERATION 105 

The help is direct and indirect. Directly, work in the 
press, especially setting up type and correcting proof, teaches 
a boy the elementary necessities of composition far quicker 
than he can be taught by theme drill. A written letter carries 
an appeal only to the eye; a single piece of type, to be taken 
from its case, handled, put right side up in its proper relation 
to the other letters, and, finally, if it has not been correctly 
inserted, to be taken out of the line and replaced, makes not 
only a greater appeal to the eye than the written letter does, 
but a strong appeal to the hand; — spelling, heretofore con- 
fined to eye and ear, now enters by three senses. The similar 
aid to punctuation, indenting, neatness, and form need not 
be elaborated. But among these direct helps is another, less 
obvious, though not less important. Suppose a boy compos- 
itor has set the type without due attentidn to paragraphs. 
The corrected proof forces him, not merely to shift a single 
letter, but to readjust several lines; and, as he does so, he has 
plenty of time to work two things out in his mind : first, the 
reason for a paragraph, when it is giving him so much trouble; 
second, the realization that a scrawled sign will not correct 
the mistake, that only complete and painstaking revision 
will do. Perhaps he will query the necessity of such and such 
a paragraph, will make the author justify it, and will learn 
in the discussion a great deal more than the most sublimated 
lessons in Unity could inculcate. The same salutary experi- 
ence applies, of course, to the order of words. The work 
cannot be guessed at; it must be done. 

Besides such direct instruction, this inevitable accuracy 
forced upon the compositor is one of the chief indirect helps 
that a printing-press may give to composition. Writing 
immortal literature is not the province of most boys; what 
we are trying to teach them is accuracy — ■ how to say what 
they mean. And though we may accomplish a good deal by 
drill in our English classes, our demands are hopelessly 
vague and flexible compared to the inexorable demands of a 
machine. For it is not merely that the boy must set type 
correctly and wedge it accurately into the chase; he must 
also run the press. Let but one of the parts of that compli- 
cated machine get out of place — even a millimeter out of 



106 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

place — and the machine stops, perhaps breaks. There can 
be no trifling here; no "more or less " accuracy. I have seen a 
boy write a comma faintly when he was not quite sure of it, 
as if a faint comma were not so bad as a distinct one, should 
the situation turn out to demand no punctuation. Such a 
boy may be cured by disciplinary preachments; but, to be 
certain of the cure, let him run a complicated machine — 
and experience results. In point of fact, he will not at first 
be allowed to run and ruin a valuable press; and it will not 
be difficult to let him know the reason. Then, if he is attracted 
at all by the work, — and most boys are, — he will somehow 
set vigorously about acquiring habits of precision. And 
though such precision in the machine shop does not always 
invade the boy's other activities, it ought to, and to a certain 
extent does. It is much more likely to pass to the pupil's 
composition from a press than from any other machine. 
Moreover, a vital connection of the one activity with the 
other — ■ as in a class paper, written and printed by the boys 
— naturally helps the contagion. 

6. The teachers of other departments should hand 
to the English teachers papers or notebooks in which 
the English is markedly deficient, 1 or markedly profi- 
cient. Where such cooperating policy is in force the 
pupil has the two incentives of hope and fear — hope 
that it may raise his English standing, fear that it may 
lower it. And the English teacher should take cogni- 
zance of these merits and these defects in the semester's 
mark. Such a policy incites habitual training in liter- 
acy all along the line — our laureled desideratum. In 
some schools it is the custom to take these defects and 
merits in English into account in computing the 

1 In cases of extreme negligence the paper should, of course, not 
be accepted. 



COOPERATION 107 

semester's grade. Mr. George H. Browne, of the 
Browne-Nichols School at Cambridge, writes : — 

An English translation that is not in the English language 
cannot be a correct translation; an experiment described, or 
written out, in inaccurate English cannot be a well-done 
school experiment; a geometry proposition, or an algebra 
problem, smeared all over the paper, no matter how accurate, 
cannot be good school mathematics. The law of self-preserva- 
tion might suggest to these teachers that the summary rejec- 
tion of papers obviously deficient in the prime elements of 
decent English would be an immediate re^ef to them in the 
number of papers they would have to correct, and a perma- 
nent relief to them in the ease with which they might correct 
all their subsequent papers. Are the inert in this matter of 
the externals of English all in the pupils' desks? ... A reason- 
able degree of accuracy in the use of his mother tongue is no 
credit to a pupil; anything short of it — hitching, mumbling 
speech, heedless misspellings, careless omission of punctua- 
tion, slovenly penmanship, or otherwise disorderly manu- 
script, etc. — is a positive discredit to him, and lessens the 
value of the substance of every school exercise. 

To the method, however, as suggested, — forcibly remind- 
ing the pupil that it is worth his while to take pains, by giving 
his work two estimates of value, and crediting him with only 
the average of the two, — there are two obvious objections: 
some teachers do not use marks; and there is an element of 
injustice in discrediting admitted knowledge because of the 
careless or inadequate exposition of it. 

Not all teachers, however, who are compelled by the ex- 
amination system to use some kind of marks, magnify their 
symbols (as is alleged) into exclusive substitutes for personal 
criticism and encouragement. The practical effect of request- 
ing all teachers in a school to give, even for a short while, a 
double mark in the form of a fraction (of which the numer- 
ator may represent substance, and the denominator form), 
whether the two be averaged or not, has invariably been to 
encourage the teachers of other subjects to take equal respon- 
sibility with the special English teacher in inculcating the 



108 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

habitual conformity to those elementary requirements of 
good use, of which they ought to be as good judges as he, 
and to the violation of which they ought to be as sensitive 
as the general public. The English teacher's denominator 
covers no more, no less, than every other teacher's; his num- 
erator, consequently, covering his independent subject, may 
include the advanced parts of it, which he often has to forego 
when he has to devote all his energies to the correction of 
Mother Tongue. 

"Mother Tongue" heads the list on our report cards, and 
a footnote explains: "The mark in this subject is the average 
of all the teachers' records of the pupil's painstaking in those 
fundamental requirements of expression, the violation of 
which is a discredit to every English-speaking pupil." 
"Mother Tongue" counts equally with Latin, Greek, French, 
German, or any other subject, in determining the student's 
standing. 

The practical effect of this simple device in actual operation 
after a short time has been that not infrequently the teacher 
of history, mathematics, or modern languages gets his work 
in better form than the English teacher himself, if the latter 
lets up. "It is simply schoolboy human nature to give you 
as slovenly and inaccurate written and spoken English as you 
will accept. Exact any standard, all of you as one teacher, 
and you will get it." l 

7. The non-English teacher should freely commend 
the pupils whose written or oral English is exception- 
ally good. Are not most of us a bit miserly with our 
praise? We grow so accustomed to the habit of detect- 
ing faults that we sometimes forget that we have near 
at hand an effective, though unsharpened, tool for 
excising those faults. The explicit note of praise may 
unconsciously arrest many implicit errors. If teachers 

1 The English Leaflet, no. 78. 



COOPERATION 109 

in other departments would frequently comment on 
the clear and well-ordered English of a written report 
or oral explanation, the note of praise would help to 
improve the English tone of the school. All of us need 
to remember that expressions of appreciation are more 
vitalizing than expressions of depreciation. 
^£. The school authorities, in selecting and retaining 
a teacher, should carefully consider each individual 
teacher's power in the use of oral and written English. 
In departments recently added to the school, authori- 
ties have sometimes been forced — particularly in the 
shop work — to employ teachers whose academic 
training has been scant and whose use of English is 
habitually faulty. These teachers, being conscious of 
their deficiency, should earnestly endeavor to make 
their daily speech conform to established use. The 
subtle danger of continuous lapses in this direction 
is a handicap which the school should not longer 
tolerate. 

Furthermore, in our own department how many 
of us would be proud of a stenographic report of a 
typical recitation that the school supervisors would 
make — without our knowledge or consent — on any 
day that they should randomly select? Such reports 
have been made, and several of them are printed in 
The English Journal. 1 Following one of these steno- 
graphic reports we read Superintendent Brubacher's 
comment : — 

1 Superintendent A. R. Brubacher, The English Journal, June, 
1914. 



110 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Throughout this recitation there is a lack of coordination 
between question and answer, a failure to use words accu- 
rately, incompleteness of statement, and in some cases inco- 
herence of ideas. Observe the teacher's questions: "Another 
cause"; "Can you explain that a little"; "I don't under- 
stand what you mean"; "But that does n't explain why the 
people lived in cities." Is it not clear that this recitation was 
laboring with very imperfect tools of language? The pupil 
had not understood the language of the book, failed to grasp 
the full meaning of the questions, and failed to match his 
answers to the questions. And note especially the lack of 
fluency and completeness of statement. 

The teacher's own demand for high attainment of 
English must be rigorously met. The school author- 
ities must take cognizance of both merits and defects; 
they should grant liberal reward for exceptional merit 
and impose heavy penalties for serious defects. But 
the most exacting requirements should be self-im- 
posed. Every teacher should realize that his own use 
of our English language is going to have its insinuat- 
ing effects; if this teacher's mastery is exceptional, the 
pupils will grasp some of his power; if the teacher is 
lax, some of this laxity is going to endanger the Eng- 
lish tone of the entire school. 

All these various concrete suggestions merge into a 
single abstraction: The English of the entire school is the 
business of the entire school. Mr. Principal's implied 
criticism directed against the English department 
should have been directed first at himself, then at Mr. 
History, then at Mr. English, then to every teacher in 



COOPERATION 111 

the school, and finally back again at himself where it 
should restlessly rest. His is the motive and directing 
power, and from him emanate the policies of the school. 
If his personality is strong enough, he can generate a 
kinetic energy that will eliminate slovenly English 
from every classroom. David Locker will quit handing 
in crumpled papers written in lead pencil. His work 
will no longer provoke execrations that the censor per- 
force must vigorously delete. 



CHAPTER VII 

GENERAL PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE CHOICE OF 
LITERARY SELECTIONS 

In considering the selection of literary material for 
an English course we are at once conscious of two main 
lines of inquiry. One of these questions what specific 
literary material is to be chosen; the other questions in 
what school year this selected material may most 
advantageously be placed. As both of these problems 
are exceedingly complex and cannot be answered with 
ultimate confidence, we shall never come to regard our 
individual courses as being finally and satisfactorily 
fixed — either as to choice or arrangement of material. 
Yet out of all the varying complexities certain princi- 
ples may emerge to act as helpful guides. With the 
basic aims and values of the entire English course in 
mind, we may now ask what specific principles may 
help to direct the selection of this material. 

1. The proper selection of literary material 

Most schools secure their English courses by inher- 
itance or by lawful borrowings. Whether such courses 
are to persist is dependent upon their practical ability 
to meet present-day needs; for the spirit of the times 
is disconcerting to lethargy and smug conservatism 
and is prone to place existing practice and selection 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 113 

under close and impartial scrutiny. To the adminis- 
trator who inherits his English course, the truculent 
radical asks, " Why do you retain this rubbish? " To 
the borrower he asks, " Who lent you this trash? " If 
we are alert to the inquiry we shall to ourselves address 
the pertinent and specific query, "j Why are we teach- 
ing The Spectator Payers and The Rime of the Ancient 
Mariner and A Tale of Two Cities, rather than Dr. 
Crothers's personal essays and Chesterton's Ballad of 
the White Horse and George Meredith's Ordeal of 
Richard Fever el?" The form of the inquiry is not 
meant to suggest a solution; and to answer these spe- 
cific questions is not, indeed, our immediate task. We 
wish to broaden our investigation, to go back of the 
specific, and to discover in the lawful principles of 
selection an answer of wider application and of more 
universal guidance. There are several ideas that sug- 
gest themselves for specific consideration and comment. 

i. We need to encourage a commonalty of culture. 
Now that a knowledge of the stories of Homer and of 
Virgil is no longer assumed to be the inalienable pos- 
session of the pupil in secondary schools, it is worth 
our while to question what sort of literary knowledge 
may safely be taken for granted; or if not taken for 
granted, what sort may we wisely encourage in prac- 
tice. Perhaps among all the books, the safest guess 
about our graduates' knowledge of literature would be 
a reasonably intimate acquaintance with Macbeth. 



114 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Now, simply because this drama is widely read and 
at the same time is of acknowledged excellence, it is 
wise to encourage its study, and make it still more 
widely read. In dramatic skill and portrayal of great 
passion, it may not be the equal of King Lear, but this 
is not the point. If all of us rigidly insist that Macbeth 
be in each secondary course of study, the high-school 
pupil of Oregon meeting the high-school pupil of Dela- 
ware, they have presumably one common ground of 
academic approach. And this very community of inter- 
est may have important socializing value. Other things 
being equal, therefore, those framing an English course 
should usually select for their classes the books that 
are generally read. By adherence to this principle 
the teachers will tend to increase a common tradi- 
tional culture, and pupils from varied localities will, 
on meeting each other, find a certain kinship in 
this communal knowledge. And this pleads for the 
retention of a small group of literary selections that 
will be read in practically every high school in our 
nation. 

2. We may sometimes wish to include books full of 
those incidents to which many subsequent writers 
make frequent allusion. For this reason certain schools 
are not content to surrender the Iliad, the Odyssey, the 
JEneid, the Bible, and Pilgrim's Progress. Teachers 
in these schools feel that these books are so well known 
by our best writers that the classic incidents and char- 
acters are almost unconsciously alluded to in modern 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 115 

writing. To miss the force of these allusions is to miss 
so much pleasure that we are justified in spending a 
good deal of school time in the mastery of these older 
volumes. This argument, they admit, would be in 
itself comparatively frail if it were hot bulwarked by 
the undoubted literary value of the books themselves 
— Pilgrim's Progress for its own English, the others 
for the English of the translations. 

This argument seems valid for certain schools, and 
therefore nothing need prevent the inclusion of selected 
parts. To include all — or even a considerable part — ■ 
of each would be to usurp time that rightfully belongs 
to other literature. Many schools, however, cannot, 
because of legal barriers, teach the Bible. Moreover, 
a large group of modern high-school pupils are so far 
away from the atmosphere of books and academic 
culture that the study of Virgil and Homer and Bun- 
yan would — unless vigorously and relentlessly cut — 
make little appeal. The time could be more wisely 
spent upon books that connect more closely with their 
current life and thought. The conclusion is that in 
certain schools selected portions of these classics may 
wisely be retained; in other schools none of the four 
should be included in the regular course. 

3. The literature selected should be distinctly good 
from the standpoint of style. It is not necessary that 
teachers in our high schools should be able to secure 
from their pupils a definition or an analysis of style, 
but it is necessary that unconsciously the selections 



116 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

which are taken up in class should tend to develop a 
sense of this somewhat ntangible attribute. 

The reader of Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales, for 
example, should inevitably come to feel that in the 
way Hawthorne constructs his sentences, in the skill 
whijh he shows in the selection of his adjectives and 
adverbs, in his secured effect of euphony, in his choice 
and arrangement of details — in all this, the pupil 
should feel that there is manifest throughout a shrewd- 
ness of design and an expertness of touch that are 
persistently shaping the excellence of the whole, and 
giving in consequence a feeling of artistic delight. And 
when the pupil turns from the Twice-Told Tales to 
George Eliot's Silas Marner, he should be able to dis- 
cover that the methods of the two writers are different, 
and that this difference is a desirable and natural 
result of two marked individualities. 

The pupil should gradually learn from the study of 
these carefully chosen books some of the more easily 
discernible elements of style — such as correctness, 
terseness, beauty, force, definiteness, resonance, and 
variety. He should learn to distinguish these qualities 
in order to secure the feeling of satisfaction which 
perception brings; furthermore, he should gradually 
be able to re-fashion some of these elements and infuse 
them into his own writing. Perhaps he has read, for 
example, one of the closing paragraphs of The Mill on 
the Floss — the passage that closes the account of the 
drowning of Tom and Maggie: — 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 117 

The boat reappeared — but brother and sister had gone 
down in an embrace never to be parted; living through again, 
in one supreme moment, the days when they clasped their 
little hands in love and roamed the daisied fields together. 

\ 

No sympathetic reader can fail to note the rhythmic 
beauty of the lines; and to note this is one step toward 
the attainment of ease that he covets in his own un- 
formed style. And even if the more subtle qualities of 
style should wholly escape the pupil, there must almost 
inevitably come to the learner some well-defined no- 
tions of correctness and variety that invite approval 
and stimulate imitation. Always the reading selection 
is the handmaid of the composition work. As society 
is now constituted, the first step toward excellence is 
the perception of excellence in others. After this comes 
imitation; and after this, original creation. 

4. The fact that style forms a valuable consideration 
suggests further that certain literature should be in- 
cluded on account of the direct help it offers to the con- 
current work in composition. As will be pointed out 
later, Irving and Hawthorne are of particular help in 
the earlier years, and Palmer's Self-Cultivation in 
English in the later years. Webster and Burke aid 
materially in original orations and in original argu- 
ment. The study of certain poems may incite a class 
to undertake the writing of simple lyrics. 

5. The trend of choice should generally favor the 
classics. Almost every one nowadays is an avowed 
progressive, but many of us are progressives with a 



118 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

certain well-defined qualification. We wish to make 
haste slowly; to advance — but to advance with cau- 
tion. Popularity is not necessarily synonymous with 
excellence; and the popular craft of the day may be 
the archaic derelict of the morrow. 

We are hearing much current talk about the element 
of interest; and of course we all know that interest is 
the first essential to instruction. But there is a strik- 
ing difference between the slowly aroused interest in 
things of sturdy and permanent worth and the interest 
that flashes in a transitory gleam. It is easier to read a 
modern popular novel than a play of Shakespeare's, 
but the value in the latter instance is likely to be pro- 
portionate to its difficulty. Wealth may sometime 
be secured by placer mining, but the bulk of the 
world's gold is embedded in quartz. The tendency of 
the classics, moreover, is to develop a true literary 
taste, to set unconsciously before the reader a safe 
norm for judgment. Temporarily this norm may seem 
a bit too high — even impossible; but it inspires a 
reach in the right direction, and time and maturity 
establish the correctness of the standard. 

One other argument in favor of the classics may be 
noted. Since the pupil is more likely to select the 
easy and the current on his own initiative, economy 
and efficiency of teaching-service urge emphasis upon 
the selection of the more difficult and the more perma- 
nent; for the currently popular are more likely to be 
read anyway. And as it is these classic selections that 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 119 

require the most skillful aid and the finer attention, 
they should receive particular stress in school. Reason- 
able difficulty of the selection, then, combined with 
the favoring judgment of the past, and confidence in a 
maturing taste, — these should be determining factors 
in the selection of literary material. 

6. The easy and the modern have their legitimate 
place, for the selections must be adjusted to the mind 
and taste of the pupils. The preceding section needs 
such a qualifying sentence as the foregoing. With the 
admission of the foreign pupils into our schools and 
with the concurrent tendency to dip down into the 
unlettered strata of modern society for a vast and 
steadily increasing influx into our high-school popula- 
tion, there comes an insistent demand for readjust- 
ment. The English course must, in specific communi- 
ties, be re-formed and re-graded. The reading selec- 
tion must be closely enough connected with the daily 
life and the habitual thought of the pupil to secure his 
attention and to create a hand-hold for his climbing 
interest. 

It is such conditions and such facts as these that 
justify in our modern high-school English courses — 
particularly in the industrial and the vocational high 
schools — such books as Coe's Heroes of Every-Day 
Life, Parton's Captains of Industry, Lane's Triumphs 
of Science, Lane's Industries of To-Day, Husband's 
America at Work, and Bolton's Girls Who Became 
Famous. 



120 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

And furthermore, the purely academic and classical 
high school should not ignore the modern note. Mod- 
ern literature reflects life as we are living it to-day. 
Its problems are our problems and its emotions our 
emotions. And because of this inviting intimacy the 
present-day writers, voicing their notions in the cur- 
rent magazines or the modern books, quickly win our 
interest; and if they are wise, they ultimately enlarge 
our idealism. In addition to this, they redirect our 
thought to the fact that literature is all the while in 
the making, and the emerging author of to-day may 
become the accepted classic of to-morrow — just as 
Matthew Arnold in his own time was accepted as 
classic. It is worth our while to introduce into our 
regular work the study of certain well-selected maga- 
zines and newspapers. This periodical literature is in 
close and vital touch with current throbbing thought. 
Oftentimes it treats, in a lucid, stimulating, and sys- 
tematic manner, the ideas that the high-school pupil 
only vaguely perceives. To bring to the attention of our 
boys and girls this clarified expression should be one of 
the cherished functions of this modern English course. 

7. Individual teachers should be granted special 
privileges in the selection of reading material. If a 
teacher has developed a special liking for a certain 
author or selection, it will often be the part of wisdom 
to encourage this teacher to depart from the regular 
plan outlined and allow him an opportunity to take up 
with his pupils this favorite selection. A teacher in 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 121 

one of our Middle- Western high schools was a great 
admirer of William Morris — particularly his Sigurd 
the Volsung. Now, there are many literary selections 
that under the guidance of an ordinary teacher might 
have proved more stimulating to high-school juniors, 
but keen enthusiasm for this poem in the soul of the 
teacher almost uniformly aroused a corresponding 
enthusiasm in her classes. For this particular teacher 
Sigurd the Volsung was a wise selection; for another 
teacher it might have been unwise. The test in this 
case, of course, was the teacher's enthusiasm for the 
study; and it was worth while for the administrators 
of the school to extend special effort in securing an 
expensive text for those particular classes. 

And the converse is equally true. A particular 
crotchet in some teacher may blind her to the beauties 
of Blackmore's Lorna Doone and render her teaching 
of the novel futile or pernicious. 

The conclusion is obvious: to adhere rigidly to a 
formulated course is to miss, on the one hand, the 
opportunity to make use of the potential enthusiasm 
of the teacher, and to run the risk, on the other hand, 
of spoiling for a class a worthy book because its mes- 
sage and tone clash with the temperament or the 
crotchet of the biased teacher. 

8. The English course should provide a variety of 
literary types. A true education encourages a versa- 
tility of tastes and offers a considerable range of 
material. This variation and breadth are particularly 



122 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

desirable in the English course. The National Confer- 
ence on Uniform Entrance Requirements in English 
names six distinct groups: (1) the classics in transla- 
tion (including the Stories of the Old Testament, the 
Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Mneid) ; (2) the Shakespeare 
group; (3) prose fiction; (4) essays and biography; 
(5) oratory; and (6) poetry. And of course many of 
these are capable of various subdivisions. 

We need all these varied types of literature in order 
to give to our pupils some conceptions of the compre- 
hensiveness of our literary storehouse. But we need it 
for a stronger reason — we desire to let them test their 
own tastes in these different realms, and, with proper 
limitations, to find in the type they like best, their 
keenest pleasure and their highest inspiration. Poetry 
of intangible texture may offer no allurement to the 
stalwart youth just arrived from the farm, the shop, 
or the football field. Very well. Try a story or a novel 
or an essay that offers valuable information. Get some 
grasp on the boy's native interest; lead him to see 
strength and beauty in unsuspected realms. He is not 
necessarily averse to English study simply because 
Keats's Ode to a Nightingale has just now no message 
for him. Treasure Island may have. Start with that 
and lead him elsewhere. And the girl whose innate 
interest is in poetry, needs just as much a guidance 
into other realms — into the realm of the essay, for 
example, where thought dominates over emotion and 
where logic is more significant than fancy. 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 123 

Nor is the desire to include these varied types dic- 
tated alone by the desire to arouse an undeveloped 
interest and the desire to balance an over-developed 
interest. True culture demands an acquaintance with 
all these literary forms. If we want our pupils to know 
the best that has been known and thought in the 
world we shall need to guide them into these different 
realms. They should find, moreover, that their own 
varying moods will at one time select poetry, at an- 
other time fiction, at another a still different type. The 
teacher with all these varied types within easy access 
is like an organist at the console. With pipes and keys 
at his command his skill can summon forth whatever 
melody the occasion invites. A similar privilege may 
await the pupil. 

9. The student should be introduced to literature 
displaying various moods. Differing from the question 
of varied types, but oftentimes dependent partially 
upon them, is the question of varied moods. Our 
natures are so constructed that they cannot long enjoy 
any art appeal that dwells too long upon the same 
mood; we yearn for relief, whether it be from contin- 
ued tragedy or continued comedy. The literature ad- 
justment should therefore allow this relief by provid- 
ing selections of varied moods. We should welcome to 
our course such elements as the mystic, the fanciful, 
the whimsical, the idealistic, the realistic, the super- 
natural, the spiritual, the tragic, the comic, and all the 
manifold human phases that the great masters have 



124 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

portrayed. It is especially desirable that we should 
not ignore the humorous. We should not be so im- 
mersed in the seriousness of our work as to let ear- 
nestness of endeavor prevent frequent and adequate 
paus r , upon the humor displayed. 

10. The acquired reputation or the historical signifi- 
cance of a particular book may sometimes suggest its 
inclusion in the course. It often happens that a book 
has acquired a reputation which is out of proportion 
to its current appeal. Such a book is Bunyan's Pil- 
grim's Progress. Contrasted with such a novel as 
Dickens's Tale of Two Cities, the interest in Pilgrim's 
Progress is slight; but its fame suggests that we give it 
some attention. We discover, when we do this, that 
the simplicity of its style, its evident earnestness, and 
its vivid portrayal of incident are elements that still 
win the quiet and tempered approval of the high-school 
pupil. The pupil learns, moreover, that the book has 
had a tremendous influence on world thought and on 
world life, and he is usually glad that his attention has 
been directed to those elements in the story that have 
now this general approval. 

Again, such a poet as Pope has but scant interest for 
the student in our modern secondary schools. Yet 
Pope's place in literary history is so secure and so sig- 
nificant that to ignore his work entirely would be to 
leave the pupil unacquainted with one of the controll- 
ing forces of the Queen Anne period. In some schools, 
however, matters more elementary demand so much 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 125 

more time and deserve so much more attention that it 
may often be wiser to omit from the course such 
authors as Bunyan or Pope. 

ii. The literary selection must breathe the right 
ethical and social message. All the other postulates in 
this enumeration are of little value if throughout the 
choice the one controlling motive has not been the 
stimulation of the pupil's moral nature. Our most 
important task in teaching is the building of character, 
and our most effective agency is the literary selection. 
Pupils may not enjoy abstract preaching — especially 
if it is directed straight at them. On the other hand, 
they delight to see, upon the stage of action, right in 
contest with wrong. The open and the straightforward 
methods that the hero employs win quick allegiance 
and constant sympathy. In such contests as these, and 
in a thousand other ways, the men and women who 
have written books have unconsciously strengthened 
the moral fiber of their readers; and who can gainsay 
the aid such examples have proved? To have these 
matters talked over sympathetically in class, to call 
out the views of the various members, to invite their 
confidence, and to offer them guidance — what Eng- 
lish teacher does not cherish this as the best portion 
of his chosen work? 

It is not to be assumed that the many principles here 
set forth are all applicable to each individual school. 
Conditions differ so widely that universal application 
of all these suggestions is not possible. Each school 



126 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

must work out its own course, getting what help it 
can from the general experience of a larger group, but 
making its decision with local conditions prominently 
in mind. The decision of to-day, however, will alter 
with the changing conditions of to-morrow. 

2. The 'proper placing of literary material 

When we have established the principles that shall 
govern our choice of literary material, there still re- 
mains the very insistent inquiry concerning the distri- 
bution or placing of our selections. We wish to teach 
such varied types as the drama, the novel, the short- 
story, the letter, the essay, the biography, the oration, 
and the various forms of poetry. We wish also to teach 
something about the men and movements that gave 
character to American and to English literature. 
Furthermore, we wish to meet appropriately and op- 
portunely the lawful demands of life and the lawful 
demands of the colleges. Urged by these complex 
motives what shall direct our decision? There are four 
considerations that aid us in the arrangement: (1) ad- 
justment to the degree of maturity; (2) choosing selec- 
tions that will aid the composition work; (3) providing 
for alternatives and variety; and (4) chronological 
sequence. 

1. The simplicity of childhood welcomes simplicity 
of utterance, and if we are selecting material for the 
twelve-year-old of the six-year high school or the 
fourteen-year-old of the four-year high school we shall 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 127 

keep prominently in mind this element of simplicity. 
We shall remember at the same time that it must not 
be too simple — not so simple in grasp as to incite no 
reach; not so easy as to develop no brain fabric. The 
normal taste of these earlier years favors the simple 
narrative full of rapid action and stirring adventure 
and dominated by the kind of elemental passions so 
admirably depicted by Cooper, Stevenson, Scott, and 
London. Then, as the pupil advances in his course, he 
will accept the various sorts of literary material that 
accords with his developing thought and emotion. 

For the first years of the high school some schools 
find it profitable to make their selections largely from 
American literature. They do this because they wish 
to acquaint their students with the main trend of our 
literary development and to study the men who have 
contributed most liberally to this enrichment of na- 
tional culture. Before this work is summarized in the 
tenth grade, the teacher wishes the pupil to know 
something of such men as Cooper, Irving, Hawthorne, 
Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Poe, and Lowell. 

Another principle of selections for these earlier 
years — particularly the tenth grade — is emphasis 
upon patriotic ideals. We have in Lowell, Lincoln, 
Whitman, and Emerson splendid utterances that stir 
our young people to a perception of this patriotic and 
social ideal. Lessons of commanding import may here 
be most profitably taught. At this critical age our 
boys and girls are just entering into their initial young 



128 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

manhood and womanhood. The boy is restive if not 
rebellious, the girl is full of sentiment if not of senti- 
mentality. It is therefore necessary that the literature 
should, with the strength of its appeal and the nobility 
of its challenge, direct these boys and girls into the 
safe paths that lead up to a more commanding outlook. 
Wise reading and discussion of these patriotic and 
social messages are here our most valuable guides. 

As the pupil grows older, such appeals as come from 
the reading of A Tale of Two Cities, Silas Marner, 
Henry Esmond, The Idylls, Coriolanus, and Macbeth 
become strong; they inspirit and arouse all the finer 
sensations of their maturing natures. The sacrifice of 
Sydney Carton, the complexity of Beatrice Esmond, 
the indecision of Godfrey Cass, the bravery and pride 
of Coriolanus, the tragedy of Macbeth's unworthy 
ambition, and the varied feelings that manifest them- 
selves in the experiences of Lancelot — all these make 
their deep impress and call out appropriate stricture 
or approval. We see earnest youths and maidens at- 
tempting to keep themselves erect by earnestly cher- 
ishing those ideals which their literature assignment 
supplies. 

2. At the same time that we are studying literature, 
we shall, all through our high-school course, want to 
make the literature work pay its constant but inci- 
dental tribute to the composition work. We shall 
accordingly find it profitable, in the earlier years of 
the high school, to make use of the simpler work of 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 129 

Irving and Hawthorne and Poe. The Sketch, Book, 
Tales of a Traveler, Bracebridge Hall, The Wonder- 
Book, Twice- Told Tales, Mosses from an Old Manse, 
The Gold Bug, and The Purloined Letter, provided the 
novelty has not been worn away by their use in the 
grammar grades, will here be a valuable aid. While we 
shall never lay so much stress upon the composition 
elements as to destroy appreciation of the literary ele- 
ments, we shall, nevertheless, allow this mutual help 
to influence the choice of our literature throughout our 
course. In the eleventh or twelfth grade, for example, 
when our boys and girls are somewhat surer of them- 
selves, they may be given harder tasks. They are 
usually prepared to enter upon a more serious study of 
English literature and to grapple with more difficult 
composition problems. The reading of the longer es- 
says and poems will not look so ominous and baffling, 
and the long composition will not seem so impossible. 
Many high-school teachers have found that the study 
of Palmer's Self -Cultivation in English is at once a 
challenge and a stimulus to students in the eleventh 
grade. The thought and the vocabulary are a trifle 
difficult, but the message incites them to greater mas- 
tery of English. It affords, moreover, by its faultless 
structure, a model of great value in the writing of a 
long essay. 

3. We should so arrange our materials as to avoid 
tedium — prolonged delay upon any one literary type 
or mood. Attention to this principle of variety will 



130 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

therefore help to direct the distribution of the selected 
literary material. We shall not want to spend one year 
upon Shakespeare, another year upon lyric poetry, 
another year upon the drama. We shall want to in- 
clude all these types in our course, but we shall not 
delay too long upon any one. Other conditions per- 
mitting, alternation between prose and poetry is usu- 
ally desirable. It is equally desirable, too, that there 
should be, as we previously pointed out, frequent varia- 
tion in the moods of the literary selection. Hawthorne 
and Poe should not, as a rule, be studied in immediate 
sequence. 

4. The study of English literature in the senior year 
can be more systematically carried out by trying to 
follow the men and movements by centuries. A word 
about conditions preceding the fourteenth century, a 
pause on Chaucer, a brief mention of Malory, that 
recalls his influence on the Idylls, and then we are 
within that rich domain of the Elizabethan age with 
all its varied phases — wit, badinage, subtlety, chiv- 
alry, flattery, brigandage, piracy, adventure, necro- 
mancy, scholarship, charlatanism — these and a hun- 
dred more faults and virtues boldly displayed on a huge 
sixteenth-century etagere. We shall delay longest upon 
Shakespeare and then shall go on to Milton, Dryden, 
and the eighteenth century. We must not, however, 
delay so long that we shall have to neglect or slight 
the master men of the nineteenth century — Words- 
worth, Lamb, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Byron, Car- 



CHOICE OF LITERARY SELECTIONS 131 

lyle, Macaulay, Browning, Tennyson, and Arnold. 
Browning may be made the greatest eye-opener of 
them all. The power of literature will be shown in an 
entirely new display, and vice and virtue will be seen 
under more microscopic and more intelligent scrutiny. 
But each of the other great men of the Victorian age 
will likewise be studied long enough to reveal his most 
obvious characteristics. 

The result of the senior year's study should be to 
give the student a clearer chronological view of English 
literature, to set into clear perspective the relative 
importance of the various men, the significance of the 
more prominent movements, and — most important 
of all — to develop in each pupil a higher valuation of 
the aesthetic and ethical appeal in English poetry and 
in English prose. 

After all this is said, however, it must be freely ad- 
mitted that the ultimate controlling force in literature 
teaching is — as it has been so often disclosed — the 
personality of the teacher. Following the very safest 
principles and guides, the teacher without force and 
magnetism may fail; violating the same safe principles 
and guides, the teacher with commanding individual- 
ity may, by the very power of his genius, succeed with 
any book he selects and by any method he adopts. But 
by following the safe principles, the forceless teacher 
may be saved from complete failure and the forceful 
teacher may be led to supreme success. 



132 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The enumeration and the discussion of these princi- 
ples that may properly influence the selection and dis- 
tribution of literary material will not solve the prob- 
lem for each administrator of a given English course. 
Such is not the design. The comment is intended 
merely to arouse inquiry and direct individual judg- 
ment. Where each school has its particular problems, 

— oftentimes conflicting and intricate in the extreme, 

— it is impossible that any set of directions, however 
detailed and comprehensive, should provide a definite 
plug for each definite socket. Such a scheme would 
forestall thought and crush initiative. It is our hope 
that some of these ideas may implicitly contain a germ 
of truth or incentive which each framer of an English 
course may develop into explicit form — a form that 
bears the token of a personal struggle and a personal 
triumph. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE TEACHING OF POETRY, WITH PARTICULAR 
ATTENTION TO THE LYRIC 

The charm of poetry is so subtle and so illusive 
when we try to capture it and subject it to analysis, 
that many find their most baffling task to be the teach- 
ing of the lyric. They sympathize with that admirer 
of Browning's Abt Vogler who was asked to explain 
the passage: — 

And I know not if, save in this, such gift be allowed to man, 
That out of three sounds he frame, not a fourth sound, but a star. 

" Why," this admirer answered in some surprise, 
" there 's nothing to explain; it 's all there." To those 
pupils of quick and undeviating instinct, it is all there, 
and no word of comment or explanation need be 
spoken; but to many in the class the elements of beauty 
are so unreal, so unsubstantial, so far aloof from the 
channeled grooves of thinking and feeling, that the 
task of teaching appreciation of lyric beauty is fraught 
with unusual difficulties and perplexities. To lessen 
some of these difficulties and to reduce the possibility 
for failure, there is need for the most careful inquiry. 
The several suggestions here offered may possibly be 
of some help if readjusted to the conditions of the 
individual class or school. 



134 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

i. We must, in the first place, ascertain the present 
poetical taste of our groups and start our work from 
the pupils* plane. Teachers too often make the mis- 
take of trying to impose their own matured tastes 
upoD an undeveloped class. This is particularly fatal 
in teaching lyric poetry; the charm of the selection 
must win its insinuating way to unopposed approval. 
It will be difficult to select at the beginning of the 
autumn work anything too simple. Something from 
Eugene Fields or James Whitcomb Riley will be suit- 
able and will be almost sure to interest the entire class. 
The thought and feeling dominating the poems of 
these two men are appropriate and safely within the 
comprehension of all. The poetical expression is al- 
most invariably faultless in its easy technique. Other 
poets — Whittier, Longfellow, and Bryant — offer, 
of course, selections of equal simplicity and charm. 
Our teaching skill in the beginning lies in the wisdom 
of our choice. 

2. We may, in the very beginning, assume that the . 3 
poetical appeal is universal. Some boys may feel — I 
or affect to feel — an aversion for poetry. But this 
feeling is usually due to the fact that teachers have 
tried to impose upon them something too fragile, or 
too involved, or too mature. By reading the right 
selection — something swinging and something con- 
crete — the teacher will be able to escape the subjec- 
tive and make the pupil see that after all there is 
something appealing in verse and that a dislike for 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 135 

poetry is just as abnormal as a dislike for music. 
Nature, it must be remembered, has provided for 
sympathetic response to simple rhythmic expression; 
to keep this in true and exact equipoise we must re- 
move all disturbing influences and give the instru- 
ment of appreciation free and unrestricted play. 

3. Dwell long enough on rhythm to convince the 
class of its basic design and worth in poetry. With 
the more mature classes it may be interesting to call 
attention to the fact that this rhythmic quality was 
early recognized as one of the joy-contributing sen- 
sations in nature; it was felt to exist in the swaying 
branches of the willow tree, the ebb and flow of ocean 
tides, the slowly varying phases of the moon, and in 
the thousand recurrent pulsations in the universe of 
sound. Primitive man re-created it first in dance and 
song and chant, and from these manifestations poetry 
naturally emerged. External nature met an impulse 
in human nature — and there came the inherent de- 
mand to throw sound into recurrent accent and strike 
a satisfying tempo. The sounds may come to us in 
jumbled form or in sedate monotony, and at once 
our instinctive effort is to secure a tuneful cosmos 
from the untuneful chaos. Thus, if you listen long 
enough to a cataract you may usually catch the hid- 
den, lurking cadence that brings abundant pleasure. 
You will even create some sort of gratifying varia- 
bility from the absolute regularity of the ticking of a 
clock. It is therefore easily apparent that when words 



136 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

are set into rhythmic order, they need carry no im- 
portant sense content in order to secure a welcome — 
more particularly if the recipient be primitive or 
juvenile in his tastes. This the popularity of Mother 
Goose melodies and the counting-out jingles abun- 
dantly prove. We still find a quiet sort of joy in re- 
peating such rhymes of our childhood as this bit of 
nonsense: — 

Hickory, dickory dock, 
The mouse ran up the clock. 

Or the following counting-out rhyme: — 

Eni, meni, mini moe; 
Catch a feeny, fini foe; 
Mamma nuja, papa tuja; 
Ric, bic, ban, doe. 

As long as we are human we shall extract a certain 
joyful response from that line of outlandish Greek in 
which the genius of Aristophanes imitated the rhythmic 
croaking of the frogs, and thus successfully antici- 
pated by approximately twenty-two hundred years 
the dithyramb ic note in the modern college yell: — 
Brecheche, kex, koax, koax, brecheche, kex, koax, koax. 
The words, however, may be good words and sen- 
sible, and still in combination be as inane, yet rhyth- 
mically satisfying, as this counting-out doggerel or 
this Greek imitation. Note, for example, the effect of 
the following: — 

Come flit in the filmy fortnight, 
With gowns all gray with gore; 
While sea-horses bleat in the barley. 
Or browse on the cellar door. 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 137 

Although this is pure nonsense it nevertheless gives 
a certain rhythmic satisfaction because the tempo is 
absolutely correct — just as the tempo (if nothing else) 
is always faultless in ragtime. No poet of our own cen- 
tury has recognized this principle more fully than Kip- 
ling. Witness this from the Barrack Room Ballads : — 

So 'ere's to you, Fuzzy- Wuzzy, at your 'ome in the Soudan: 
You're a poor benighted 'eathen, but a first-class fightin' man; 
So 'ere's to you, Fuzzy- Wuzzy, with your 'ay rick 'ead of 'air — 
You big black boundin' beggar — for you bruk a British square! 

When in Dryden's Ode in Honor of St. Cecilia's 
Day we come to a higher type of poetry than these 
foregoing passages, though the attempt is still delib- 
erately imitative, — the imitation of musical instru- 
ments, — we are still within the willing thralldom of 
rhythm : — 

The trumpet's loud clangor 

Excites us to arms, 

With shrill notes of anger 

And mortal alarms. 

The double, double, double beat 

Of the thundering drum 

Cries, "Hark! the foes come: 

Charge, charge, 't is too late to retreat!" 

But rhythm reaches its highest poetical function, 
as will later be explained, when it passes beyond the 
pale of deliberate imitation into the nobler realm of 
suggestion. Southey's imitation of the turbulence of 
the cataract of Lodore is clever — clever by a certain 
obvious tour de force; but Tennyson's magnificent 
re-creation of the placid and quiescent in Crossing the 



138 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Bar is accomplished by a finely wrought suggestion, 
through harmony of tone and balance, that genius 
alone could compass and direct. And those of us who 
love the sounds of the shore — sweet though in sad- 
ness — will read with recurring pleasure this stanza 
from Thomas Bailey Aldrich's Voices of the Sea, with 
its slowly beating rhythm suggestive of the constantly 
repeated advance and recession of ocean waves : — 

In the hush of the autumn night 
I hear the voice of the sea, 
In the hush of the autumn night 
It seems to say to me — 
Mine are the winds above, 
Mine are the caves below, 
Mine are the dead of yesterday 
And the dead of long ago. 

It is by lingering upon such passages as these which 
we have been quoting that the student will be insin- 
uatingly led into the appreciation of the rhythmic 
beauty of poetry. 

4. The relationship of rhyme to poetry must be 
dwelt upon — especially with the more mature classes. 
There is something in our inner being that impels 
to order and regularity. Rhythm, with rhyme as its 
accompaniment, becomes more obvious, and the flow 
of its recurrent syllables grows more distinct and 
emphatic. But rhyme does more than clarify and em- 
phasize rhythm; it creates a new euphonic interest. 
Pleasure results when the mind, instinctively adjusting 
itself to the perceived device, has its sense of antici- 
pation gratified. The effect is most quickly realized 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 139 

when the rhyming words come close together, as in 

our juvenile verse: — 

Old Mother Hubbard 
She went to the cupboard. 

Recently one of our freshmen in the high school 

threw his tribulations into a somewhat similar rhyme 

scheme: — 

Hully gee! If you were me, 
Freshman, in Division C, 
Had to write an English theme, 
Could n't get a single gleam; 
What in thunder would you do, 
As you thought the matter through, 
What in thunder, would you do? 

This same easy flow, however, is apparent in lyrics 
of even the most elevated type; like this from Shelley: 

, Arethusa arose 

From her couch of snows 
In the Acroceraunian mountains, — 

From cloud and crag, 

With many a jag 
Shepherding her bright fountains. 

As civilization advanced and as the taste for reci- 
tation grew, more elaborate rhyme schemes were 
introduced. It was an easy transition from the coup- 
let to the quatrain rhyme, illustrated by the simple 
ballads: — 

As Robin Hood in the forest stood 

All under the green-wood tree, 
There he was aware of a brave young man, 

As fine as fine might be. 

From this the development continued, aided by 
the Renaissance movement and the accompanying 



140 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

interest in Greek and Latin meters, to such elaborate 
forms as the Spenserian stanza, the Pindaric ode, and 
such fixed forms as the sonnet, the triolet, the villa- 
nelle, the rondel, the rondeau, the ballad, and such 
other elaborations as English, French, and Italian 
ingenuity could devise. Suffice it to say, however, 
that interest in these more intricate forms is confined 
to specialists and those interested in technique. The 
general public has always preferred the simple rhyme 
scheme with the easily anticipated recurrences. The 
same thing has happened here as always happens — 
the moment art begins to exist for its own self, and not 
as a means to a nobler ethical or aesthetic end, it loses 
itself in overadroit ingeniousness or in highly wrought 
elaboration, and in the process alienates its natural 
clientele. The listener who has his attention unfortu- 
nately directed to the wonderfully clever artifice of 
the verse at once begins to lose the thought of the poem. 
It is far better, then, to ignore rhyme entirely — as 
Collins did in his Ode to Evening, as Matthew Arnold 
did in Rugby Chapel, as the best free-verse writers are 
doing — than to employ it merely for deft refinement 
and technical complexity. But when simply and skill- 
fully used, rhyme is unquestionably one of the poet's 
most efficient tools. 

5. Teach only the more important metrical and 
stanzaic forms. As it is always the spirit rather than 
the form of matter that we wish to bring out, we shall 
habitually find it best to pause briefly upon metrical 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 141 

and stanzaic forms. Most teachers prefer to teach 
only the four most commonly used metrical feet; 
iambus, trochee, anapest, and dactyl. The number 
of feet in the line is most simply distinguished by 
number merely. If there are five iambic feet, pupils 
may simply call the line iambic five, though the 
Greek equivalents are not difficult and some teachers 
like to teach them. Of the various stanzaic forms it 
will be sufficient to teach only the quatrain, the heroic 
couplet, blank verse, Spenserian stanza, terza rirna, and 
the sonnet. 1 

6. The older pupils may be taught something of the 
value of tone color. This element — or quality rather 
— is variously known as onomatop&ia, tonality, or 
tone color. It has to do with the subtle accord and 
nice correspondence of sound to sense. Sometimes 
the effect is so delicately diffused that it is like 
the wafted odor of the pastoral eglantine, or the 
aroma arising from the spiced dainties brought from 
silken Samarcand, or the traditional flavor of Chian 
wine. 

We feel it in Tennyson's Morte d' Arthur in the bold 
answer of Sir Bedivere: — 

I heard the water lapping on the crag, 
And the long ripple washing in the reeds. 

We catch the melody of it in Dryden's Ode in 
Honor of St. Cecilia's Day : — 

1 For full information upon these technical points cf. Brander 
Matthews's A Study of Versification. Houghton Mifflin Company. 



142 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The soft complaining flute 

In dying notes discovers 

The woes of hopeless lovers 

Whose dirge is whispered by the warbling lute. 

Again its presence pervades the chorus of Swin- 
burne's Atalanta in Calydon : — 

When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces. 
The mother of months in meadow and plain 
Fills the shadows and windy places 
With lisp of leaves and ripple of rain. 

And nowhere is it more subtly conveyed than in 
Tennyson's matchless lyric, Crossing the Bar. 

An examination of the mechanism of those pas- 
sages which are rich in tone color reveals the poten- 
tial art in vowel and consonantal arrangement. The 
softer sounds and the quieter moods are won by the 
long, open vowels in combination with the liquid con- 
sonants, I, to, to, and r. Note the effect in Swinburne's 
elegy, Ave Atque Vale : — 

Shall I strew on thee rose or rue or laurel, 
Brother, on this that was the veil of thee? 
Or quiet sea-flower moulded by the sea, 
Or simplest growth of meadow-sweet or sorrel* 
Such as the summer-sleepy dryads weave, 
Waked up by snow-soft sudden rains at eve? 

In contrast to this melodious effect, turn to Tenny- 
son's translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Battle 
of Brunanburgh and note that the tone desired is 
harsh and chaotic; this is secured by the short, closer 
vowels in combination with the hard consonants: — 

Many a carcase they left to be carrion, 
Many a livid one, many a sallow-skin — 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 143 

Left for the white-tail'd eagle to tear it, and 
Left for the homy-nibb'd raven to rend it, and 
Gave to the garbaging war-hawk to gorge it, and 
That gray beast, the wolf of the weald. 

We catch the spirit of the bleak winter as we listen 
to Robert Burns reflect his sympathy for the ourie 
cattle in the cheerless season : — 

When biting Boreas, fell and dovre, 
Sharp shivers through the leafless bower; 
When Phoebus gies a short-lived glower 

Far south the lift, 
Dim darkening through the flaky shower, 

Or whirling drift. 

7. Call attention to the wonderful power of con- 
centrated but restrained passion. The power of poetry 
becomes greatest when the poet's spiritual emotion 
is most intense. At certain rare moments genius has 
bequeathed to our bards certain wonderful moods 
or ideas and has wedded them with such inevitable 
phrasings that the resulting passages are laden with 
a rapturous intensity that is but dimly conscious of 
sensory imagery or objective beauty or any close 
association with the carnal and the actual. Instead, 
it escapes into an ill-defined but very wondrous spirit- 
ism — the mood that Poe defined as the " elevating 
excitement of the soul." It is spiritual exhalation of the 
highest order. To extract such lines from their con- 
text and induce them to convey the intensity which 
inheres in their natural place is impossible. But some 
of the lines are so transcendent that their resident 
potentiality is felt even in their isolation. 



144 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

When Mildred Tresham, the fourteen-year-old 
heroine of Browning's Blot in the 'Scutcheon, comes 
to the terrible realization that in her passionate love 
for her betrothed she has surrendered her maiden 
virtue, she voices her anguish in these simple words: — 

I was so young! 
Beside, I loved him, Thorold — and I had 
No mother; God forgot me: so, I fell. 

Simple, tragic, terrible — all compassed and re- 
vealed in these intense lines. 

Matthew Arnold has called attention to that viv- 
idly significant line in Wordsworth's Michael that 
suggests in so short a space the mood which the old 
shepherd, sorrowing for an absent son, felt as he goes 
out to try to finish the building of the sheepfold wall 
which father and son had begun together. The deso- 
late countryman surrendered to his mood, — 

And never lifted up a single stone. 

When we have read through Milton's Paradise 
Lost, and have followed Adam and Eve through their 
moments of happiness, temptation, and sorrow, we 
come finally to that tragic close which recounts their 
expulsion from the Garden in a passage whose very 
restraint intensifies the emotion: — 

Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; 
The world was all before them, where to choose 
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: 
They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow. 
Through Eden took their solitary way. 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 145 

When William Wordsworth in retrospect looked 
out of his college window in Cambridge and saw, in 
the yard below, the chapel that contained the statue 
of Sir Isaac Newton, he thought of all that this great 
man had accomplished in the realm of science. As 
the poet gazed in fancy upon that chiseled face, the 
generated ecstasy of the poet linked itself with the 
power of immortal phrasing, and he wrote: — 

Of Newton with his prism and silent face, 

The marble index of a mind for ever 

Voyaging through strange seas of thought alone — 

Such passages as these, and scores of others that 
we might select, reflect an unusual power of spiritual 
insight, combined with an artist's phrasing skill. 
There results that inevitable touch which gives per- 
manent literary value. And to bring to the young 
student an appreciation of these values, to teach him 
a reverence for them, to guide him in such a way as 
to make his soul delicately responsive to their ap- 
pearance in the new as well as to their reappearance 
in the old — this is the high privilege of the teacher 
of literature. 

8. In cultivating appreciation, few things are more 
helpful than deliberate pause upon phrases of special 
felicity. It is a mistake to assume that all manifesta- 
tions of beauty will be perceived by the pupil. It has 
been said that it required a Ruskin to teach the English 
people a real appreciation of the beauty of cloud 
effects. We should encourage a fitting pause upon 



146 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

phrases of unusual beauty or effectiveness. These 

phrases may be marked by wondrous euphony, as in 

Poe's lines — 

To the glory that was Greece 
And the grandeur that was Rome; 

or by a single suggestive epithet, as in Arnold's Self- 
Dependence — 

From the intense, clear, star-sown vault of heaven; 

or by deft portrayal of a detail, as in Meredith's picture 
of the swallow, in Love in the Valley — 

Swift as the swallow along the river's light, 
Circleting the surface to meet his mirrored winglets; 

or by a happy touch of enchantment, as that felt in 
that portion of the Ode to a Nightingale which describes 
the power of the bird's melody — 

that oft-times hath 
Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam 
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn. 

Such passages as these supply the student with some 
of the norms of which Arnold speaks in his essay on 
The Study of Poetry. They direct attention to the skill 
which master craftsmanship may compass, whether 
by the power of genius or by attained skill. By calling 
attention to the effectiveness of such concrete passages 
as they occur in the reading, the teacher will be es- 1 
tablishing standards of taste and judgment. We shall 
take earnest precaution that the process is not carried 
so far as to entangle the students " in the cobwebs of 
the schools." 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 147 

9. Emphasize the poet's power to make us imagine 
wide extents of space. Coleridge writes of the Ancient 
Mariner as being 

Alone on a wide, wide sea 

So lonely 't was that God himself 

Scarce seemed there to be. 

Milton gives us that magnificent conception of the 

wandering moon. 
Riding near her highest noon 
Like one that had been led astray 
Through the heavens' wide pathless way. 
And oft, as if her head she bowed, 
Stooping through a fleecy cloud. 

Bayard Taylor expressed this largeness of view in 
his apostrophe to the clouds : — 

Bathed in the tenderest purple of distance, 
Tinted and shadowed by pencils of air, 
Thy battlements hang o'er the slopes and the forests. 
Seats of the gods in the boundless ether, 
Looming sublimely aloft and afar. 

Barry Cornwall notes this same enlarging sense in 

the sea: — 

the sea! the open sea! 
The blue, the fresh, the ever free! 
Without a mark, without a bound, 
It runneth the earth's wide regions round ; 
It plays with the clouds ; it mocks the skies ; 
Or like a cradled creature lies. 

Once the reader is made to see in his mind and to 
feel in his soul the invigoration that comes with this 
enlarged vision, he will begin to have that high rev- 
erence for creation which is the necessary accompani- 
ment of appreciation of poetry. 



148 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

10. Consider carefully the individual approach to 
each assigned poem. The teacher who does not take 
particular pains in the assignment of the work and 
determine the best method of attack, is pretty sure to 
fail in his endeavor to arouse enthusiasm for his work. 
Many poems, such as The Star-Spangled Banner, 
Highland Mary, Kubla Khan, and Herve Riel, were 
composed under special circumstances and have there- 
fore an external interest that to some members of the 
division will perhaps make a stronger appeal than does 
the internal interest. It is worth while to tell the class 
— or send them to a source where they themselves can 
read of it — the simple account that Mrs. Shelley gives 
of the skylark that suggested to Shelley the theme and 
spirit of his delicate lyric: " It was on a beautiful sum- 
mer evening, while wandering near the lanes whose 
myrtle hedges were bowers of fireflies, that we heard 
the carolling of the skylark which inspired one of the 
most beautiful of his poems." Or refer the pupils to 
Tennyson's biography (written by his son) to learn the 
interesting external facts about Crossing the Bar. 1 

In a stimulating discussion of this same theme Pro- 
fessor H. G. Paul, of the University of Illinois says: — 

In preparing to discuss Rossetti's Blessed Damozel, I have 
given pupils Mr. Hall Caine's well-known statement regard- 
ing Rossetti's indebtedness to Poe's Raven and have asked 
for a comparison of the two poems. Then, too, the teacher 
may occasionally suggest some source of a lyric and ask for 

1 Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by his Son, vol. n, p. 366. 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 149 

a comparison between the poem studied and this source; as, 
for example, What does II Penseroso owe to the song in 
Fletcher's Nice Valour? or, What was Vaughan's influence 
upon Wordsworth's great Ode? or, How did Sidney expand 
his beautiful My True Love Hath My Heart, which he en- 
larged to a sonnet and inserted in the text of his Arcadia; 
and did he thus improve it? Again, questions which send the 
pupil to a larger text, and thus tempt him to further reading, 
are especially worth seeking and using. Thus, such lyrics as 
Where the bee sucks may induce even the lazier members of 
the class to spend some time with The Tempest. I have fre- 
quently enjoyed asking pupils studying Shakespeare's lyrics, 
whether the singer of Take, take those lips away, is a man 
or a woman; then, after allowing the discussion to wax warm 
for a while, as it invariably does to send them to Measure for 
Measure for the answer. 1 

Where there is nothing of this sort to beget an in- 
terest, the pupils may be asked to write out one or two 
salient impressions of a poem, to compare or contrast 
two poems, to ascertain any resemblances that may 
exist between this poem and some novel or short story, 
to write the substance of a short poem out in prose 
and question why the ideas were put into metrical 
form — any specific demand that will stimulate in- 
telligent reading. I have frequently aroused the more 
lethargic by some such specific assignment as this: 
"In a letter to one of your intimate friends who has 
not read the Ode on a Grecian Urn write such a com- 
ment as will give him a clear idea of the poem and will 
make him wish to read it." 

i Bulletin of the Illinois Association of Teachers of English, 
November 15, 1915, and The English Journal, October, 1912. 



150 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ii. Bring out the central thought or emotion. While 
the lyric is by its very nature concerned vitally with 
the portrayal of emotion, we must not ignore the 
thought appeal. The Ode to the West Wind is emotional 
in the extreme, and appreciation of its poetry requires 
a sympathetic understanding of feelings that domi- 
nated Shelley while he wrote. But this does not deter 
us from an examination of the intellectual notion that 
lies at the base, and to the discovery of this we may 
therefore address our direct inquiry. Analysis shows 
us that Shelley, feeling the restrictions that chain his 
proud and tameless spirit, asks help and release from 
the West Wind, who is near enough like him in passion 
and spirit to sympathize and understand. Shelley's 
prayer is that the West Wind will be the messenger 
that will carry his poetical ideas to all mankind. 

The thought is in itself not difficult for the pupil, 
but for interpretative purposes it needs to be shorn of 
some of its more elaborate phrasing. Understanding 
this thought we can better understand the poet's 
emotion. 

12. Some pupils will be interested in discovering 
possibilities for the topical division of certain poems. 
Such a poem as Shelley's To a Skylark, or his Ode to 
the West Wind are rather easily reduced to topical 
form. The thought is developed with mathematical 
precision, as is easily seen in analysis. I am repro- 
ducing the analysis I have used elsewhere. 1 

* Selected Lyrics, R.L.S. no. 218, pp. 124, 127. 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 151 

To a Skylark 

Lines 1- 30: The surroundings and the song. 

31- 60: The bird described by similes. 

61- 80 : The reasons suggested for the bird's happi- 
ness and joyous singing. 

81-105 : The happiness of the bird contrasted with the 
unhappiness of men. 

Ode to the West-Wind 

Stanzaic Group I: The effect of the wind upon the leaves. 
Stanzaic Group II: The effect of the wind upon the clouds. 
Stanzaic Group III: The effect of the wind upon the waves. 
Stanzaic Group IV: The poet's prayer that he may be a 

leaf, a cloud, a wave. 
Stanzaic Group V: His preference, selected from the three, 

is to be like the leaves and perform a 

similar mission. 

It is easily apparent that most poems do not readily t 
lend themselves to this topical form. To attempt to 
place them in a Procrustean bed is the sheerest folly. 
Where such a division was in the poet's own mind, 
however, the discovery of the division is merely a part 
of the process of interpretation. 

13. Take pains in clearing up difficulties in the 
phrasing, particularly the inverted order. We must 
never forget that, from the learner's viewpoint, poeti- 
cal phrasing is often unreal. The exigencies of poetry 
often demand that, for the sake of the rhythm or the 
meter or the rhyme, the natural prose order be vio- 
lently changed. Note Gray's familiar lines, — 

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 
And all the air a solemn stillness holds. 



152 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

It is perhaps an open question whether air is subject or 
object. Does the air hold the stillness; or does the still- 
ness hold the air ? Simply because air comes first in the 
sentence, the young student is almost sure to consider 
air as subject. Perhaps it is; perhaps it is not. Which 
interpretation, you may ask each student, makes 
the strongest appeal to you personally? A more 
difficult passage for the pupil is in Keats's Ode on 
a Grecian Urn, where the poet is describing the 
wondrously happy love of the pictured youth and 
maiden: — 

More happy love! more happy, happy love! . . . 
For ever panting and forever young; 
All breathing human passion far above, 
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed, 
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. 

The natural tendency of young readers is to take this 
in its natural order and try to make breathing modify 
love. Some pupil of quicker insight, who is more famil- 
iar with the ways of poets, will see, however, that 
Keats is describing a particularly high type of love — 
a love far above all breathing human passion. 

Always difficulties such as these are arising, and con- 
tinually the teacher is too likely to think that because 
the meaning is so obvious to him, it must surely be 
obvious to the pupils; but these pupils, we must re- 
member, have had a comparatively brief experience in 
reading poetry and have not attained the expert's 
power and knowledge. There are mysteries Uranian 
as well as mysteries Eleusinian. 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 153 

I remember distinctly my first experience with the 
opening lines of Lowell's Cathedral : — 

Far through the memory shines a happy day, 
Cloudless of care, down-shod to every sense, 
And simply perfect from its own resource. 

The phrase down-shod proved recalcitrant; it meant 
nothing. I re-read the passage, and still the meaning 
was obscure. A fellow instructor of English chanced 
to call upon me in the midst of my effort, and I eagerly 
sought his aid. After some moments of intense study 
he admitted that the phrase completely baffled him, 
and reluctantly we abandoned the task of interpreta- 
tion. When he had gone, however, I centered my clos- 
est attention upon the defying phrase — down-shod to 
every sense. Suddenly the meaning flashed itself upon 
me — shod with feathery down, hence soft and yielding 
— responsive. The experience enforced this truth: 
The meaning in a given passage is usually clear if we 
vouchsafe to the task of interpretation the deserved 
measure of patience and concentration. And this les- 
son we should continually teach to our pupils. 

14. One of the valuable aids to interpretation is 
oral reading. Oral reading is of constant value in the 
English course, but it is of particular value in the study 
of dramatic, narrative, and lyrical poetry. The prac- 
tice harks back to the primitive age when languages 
and ballads were in their making and when crude 
rhythmic verse was uttered in a sort of recitative. 
Even though we have grown more conscious of art and 



154 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

more academic in our practice, we still retain our nat- 
ural chanting instincts and permit, in the midst of our 
emphasis upon the intellectual, a certain suggestion 
of measured monotony that allows the recurring antici- 
pations of stress to be gratified. Just as our best actors 
in reading Shakespeare's lines are careful to preserve 
the rhythm of the blank verse, so should we encour- 
age our pupils to preserve the rhythm of poems. To 
fall into sing-song, however, is worse than to ignore the 
measure entirely. The teacher by his own interpre- 
tative reading should be able to show his pupils the 
happy medium between crude chant and prosaic 
utterance. Poetry lies somewhere between pure music 
and pure logic; it is thought surcharged with emotion 
and set to melodious phrase. Neither the thought nor 
the emotion should be lost in the oral interpretation. 

Before this oral interpretation can be satisfactory 
two things are necessary : first, the mechanical processes 
of reading (such as word sense, articulation, enuncia- 
tion, inflection, and emphasis) should be skillfully 
mastered; second, the reader should thoroughly know 
the thought of the poem and thoroughly feel the poet's 
emotion. Entering into this intimate sympathy with 
the message, the reader should then be able to give it 
proper oral presentation. 

As teachers, we must remember that our office in 
instruction is not arbitrarily to impose our interpre- 
tation, and didactically assert exactly where a strong 
or a weak stress should fall, just where the rising or 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 155 

the falling inflections should occur, or where — if the 
pupil is declaiming — the gestures should be made. 
We are, on the other hand, to clarify the thought, to 
remove any obstruction that deflects emotional stim- 
ulus, and then to urge the pupils to make their oral 
reading genuinely interpretative. Practice and drill 
will correct defects and develop a nicer skill. The base 
of this skill is clearness of intellect and keenness of 
sympathy. 

A perfect judge will read each work of wit 
With the same spirit that its author writ. 

15. Make frequent memory assignments. During 
the years when our pupils memorize easily we should 
encourage them to store their minds with many of the 
choice passages from our literature — prose as well 
as poetry. Where these are wisely chosen, the thor- 
ough familiarization and the continued reproduction 
will aid the student in establishing the best standards 
of literary taste. As Matthew Arnold suggests, these 
memorized selections may be happily used in measur- 
ing the worth of other writings. They will disclose to 
him the potential force and beauty resident in our 
language when the writers have the power and skill to 
marshal into proper formations the words and phrases 
that express the strongest and best conceptions; and 
appreciation of this skill should incite the pupil to at- 
tain some degree of this same skill. Moreover, with 
these passages in his mind, his thought and spirit are 
likely to attain a larger growth. Routine that leads 



156 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

toward higher attainment, for example, becomes a 
little easier if we have within us Browning's literal 
expression — "A man's reach should exceed his 
grasp." 

1 6. Another valuable practice which an English 
teacher may employ is the illumination of the abstract 
by concrete illustrations. Take, for example, that 
well-known couplet from Locksley Hall — 

Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with 

might; 
Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass'd in music out of sight. 

In elaborating the meaning of these lines which show 
the power of love in effacing self, the teacher should 
draw upon the great realm of life and story, and tell — 
or have his students tell — of some great sacrifice 
which a mother has made for a son, a wife for a husband, 
or a sweetheart for her lover. Let the narrator bring 
forward in its detailed concreteness that splendid 
immolating spirit of Sydney Carton — that greatest 
of all characters in the greatest of Dickens's novels. 
Carton's love for Lucie Manette was so supremely 
great that he would not even offer himself in marriage, 
for he knew too well that his dissolute, impractical 
nature was illsuited to the office of husband. But he 
bided his time in pitiable isolation of spirit, faithful al- 
ways to that, early promise that he would willingly make 
any sacrifice to keep her, or any dear to her, safe from 
any evil or any peril. And when, in that strange and 
intense situation in the prison of the Conciergerie, 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 157 

when he found that it was possible for him, by a vicari- 
ous sacrifice, to liberate the husband of her whom he 
loved so unselfishly, then willingly he laid down his life 
in order that Charles Darnay might be saved to Lucie 
and to Lucie's children. With the example of this 
sacrifice fresh before us, shall we not revert with re- 
newed interest to the abstraction of the poet, and read 
with keener delight the words which a concrete example 
has clarified? Try it now in your own instance as you 
re-read the couplet — 

Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with 

might; 
Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass'd in music out of sight. 

The student should be trained to see the concreteness 
in the midst of all abstractions. Or, failing in this, he 
should definitely recognize the fact that the passage 
has not yielded its message; and if he ends his study 
then, he should be conscious of his failure — he should 
not be content with dim and hazy notions. 

17. One of the best aids to secure more pleasure and 
interest in poetry is to develop the pupils' power to 
visualize. Our study of oral reading has impressed us 
with the idea that true reading involves the re-creation 
in the reader's mind and heart of the essential concepts 
and the essential emotions which dictated the master's 
writing. The mere mechanical pronunciation of words 
as an end in itself the true reader will gradually learn 
to spurn; the revisualizing of concepts and the revi- 
talizing of emotions he will learn instinctively to de- 



158 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

mand. Along with this will come the conviction that 
literature cannot be effectively studied while the pupil 
reclines on a soporific couch, or lolls luxuriously in a 
Morris chair. For most of us the study of literature de- 
mands the posture of a straight-backed stool. But 
what specific pedagogical effort will establish the con- 
viction that words must be vitalized, that sentences 
and paragraphs must be transfused with the glory and 
the strength of imagination? 

As a mere device try this : Read to your pupils — or 
have the pupils read to themselves — a stanza of 
poetry, or a paragraph of prose; then immediately de- 
mand that books be closed. Open a fusillade of ques- 
tions: What pictures, class, have you in your mind? 
What senses are appealed to? Sight? Sound? Feeling? 
Odor? Taste? is there any sensation of movement? Is 
this upward? Downward? Straight forward? Crooked? 
Zigzag? Winding? Are there any words which refuse to 
yield a definite meaning? If so, why? What is the 
strongest appeal made to your imagination? 

Let us take a concrete case from the Passing of 

Arthur and see what sort of questions and comments 

will create concepts, vivify language, and arouse 

emotions : — 

Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge. 
Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern, 
Beneath them; and descending they were ware 
That all the decks were dense with stately forms, 
Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream — ■ by these 
Three queens with crowns of gold — and from them rose 
A ery that shiver'd to the tingling stars, 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 159 

And, as it were one voice, an agony 

Of lamentation, like a wind that shrills 

All night in a waste land, where no one comes, 

Or hath come, since the making of the world." 

Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge," 
So to the barge they came. There those three queens 
Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept. 
But she that rose the tallest of them all 
And fairest laid his head upon her lap, 
And loosed the shatter'd casque, and chafed his hands. 
And call'd him by his name, complaining loud, 
And dropping bitter tears against a brow 
Striped with dark blood; for all his face was white 
And colorless, and like the wither'd moon 
Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east; 
And all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops 
Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls — 
That made his forehead like a rising sun 
High from the dais-throne — were parch'd with dust. 
Or, clotted into points and hanging loose, 
Mixt with the knightly growth that fringed his lips. 
So like a shatter'd column lay the King; 
Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest, 
From spur to plume a star of tournament, 
Shot thro' the lists at Camelot, and charged 

Before the eyes of ladies and of kings. 1 

Immediately after the passage is read let all books be 
closed. Some pupil may first be called upon to describe 
the picture which was in Tennyson's mind. Omitted 
details may then be supplied by the class. Or perhaps 
the teacher will prefer to test the pupils by asking ques- 
tions that will at once bring out certain details, — 
such, for example, as the following, — many of them 
extremely simple: — 

1 Tennyson's Poetical Works, Cambridge Edition, p. 448, lines 
361-93. 



160 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

What color is the barge? Where are Arthur and Bedi- 
vere when the barge comes up? What is your idea of 
these " black-stoled, black-hooded " figures ? What 
gender are they? What is the significance of the phrase 
"like a dream"? What is the antecedent of them in 
the phrase, " and from them rose a cry"? Can your 
imagination re-create this sound? Concentrate your 
mind on the phrase, " shiver'd to the tingling stars." 
Read the next lines carefully and see if your idea of the 
cry is changed. How do you imagine Arthur is taken 
to the barge? Why did the queens weep? How do you 
suppose the casque was unloosed? What senses are ap- 
pealed to in the expression, " and chafed his hands "? 
Why is the epithet " dark " used to describe the 
blood? Why not bright? What simile helps to intensify 
our conception of the whiteness of Arthur's face? " And 
all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops of onset " 
— explain each detail in the sentence after imagining 
the whole. How did the " light and lustrous curls " 
make his forehead like a rising sun high from the dais- 
throne? Get the full significance of the words "clotted 
into points." Do you know the meaning of the expres- 
sion, " lance in rest "? Study the contrast between the 
appearance of Arthur as he lies upon the barge and as 
he formerly appeared in the tournaments. Now re- 
read the passage. Does n't it seem more definite, more 
vivid, more pulsating than it did on first reading? Do 
the details not stand out in clearer outline? Don't you 
see the figures as definite personalities? Don't you 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 161 

hear the sounds which rang in Tennyson's ears when 
he wrote the passage? 

You will from these questions readily perceive that 
the design is to generate in the mind of the reader the 
essential picture which was in the poet's mind. In 
other words, the questions emphasize the value of re- 
creating the sensory image — the concrete images 
which appeal to the five senses. 

Now we must remember that the concrete image is 
the basis of all sensory imagery, for sensory imagery 
means simply and solely the concrete impressions that 
strike the senses, — sight, hearing, feeling, smell, and 
taste. When we remember that originally all language 
was pictorial, and that the modern civilized child cares 
little for the unillustrated book, and that even we who 
are more mature smile approvingly when we learn that 
the lecture we are to attend is to be illuminated with 
the stereopticon — when we remember all this, we 
begin to have an idea of what an important part these 
concrete, visual images play in our daily life. 

When we apply our study of sensory imagery to the 
interpretation of literature, it means that we are not 
getting the exact picture that was in the author's mind 
unless we know the exact details — real or imaginary 
— that were in the author's mind. Now for the pur- 
poses of sympathetic reading it is of course not neces- 
sary that the exact image originally in the poet's mind 
be re-created, — the essential thing is that the reader 
study the particular passage he is reading with the idea 



162 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of securing as nearly as possible the writer's point of 
view. Then by the proper arrangement and massing of 
details, the alert, sensitive reader — provided his ex- 
perience be sufficient — can create the adequate image 
and come into proper sympathy with the author. 

But in all our teaching we are too prone to forget 
that the experience of our pupils is severely limited. 
The trouble with them and with ourselves is just this, 
— we have not seen enough. Or if we have seen enough, 
we have not observed closely enough. Recently in my 
work with a class of seniors in the high school we came 
to this passage in Milton's L' Allegro: — 

And he, by friar's lantern led, 
Tells how the drudging goblin sweat 
To earn his cream-bowl duly set, 
When in one night, ere glimpse of morn 
His shadowy flail had threshed the corn 
That ten day-labourers could not end. 

When the class was questioned concerning the line, 
" His shadowy flail had threshed the corn," it devel- 
oped that only four in a class of twenty-six had any 
definite idea of the picture that must have been in the 
poet's mind, most of them having never seen a flail 
or a threshing floor. I do not mention this as a sur- 
prising incident; I mention it because it is worth while 
to remember constantly that the experience of the city 
child is widely different from the experience of the 
country child, and that the spirit of the present gen- 
eration varies decidedly from that of our grandfathers. 

The solution here, I believe, is the same as in the 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 163 

realm of practical ethics, — the instillment in the in- 
dividual mind of the necessity of a wise unselfishness, 
the partial eff acement of the individual egoism — a 
liberal Catholicism. Applying the dictum to ourselves 
as readers, we must learn to feel how extremely narrow 
has been the experience which has come to each one of 
us. We may never have seen the magnolia's bloom or 
heard the ominous soughing of the whispering pines; 
we have never been on the equator where darkness 
comes at a single stride when the sun's rim dips. But 
if in reading imagery that comprehends unexperienced 
phenomena we project ourselves in the direction of the 
poet's thought, and sensitively adjust our vision to his, 
we can, without sharing his exact experience, enter 
sympathetically into his pictures and his sensations. 
If this were not so Byron never would have popularized 
for an English public those opening lines of The Bride 
of Abydos so rich in Oriental imagery: - — 

Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle 
Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime, 

Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle, 
Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime? 

Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, 

Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine; 

Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppress'd with perfume, 

Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her, bloom; 

Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, 

And the voice of the nightingale never is mute; 

Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky. 

In colour though varied, in beauty may vie, 

And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye; 

Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine. 

And all, save the spirit of man, is divine? 



164 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Now the details here enumerated may not be a part 
of the reader's experience, but a willingness to become 
catholic and a wisely energized projection will make 
the passage vital. This vitality, let me insist, cannot be 
adequately secured without an ability to re-create these 
sensory images — these appeals to the organs of sight, 
hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. Because the 
visual and the auditory images are so common in litera- 
ture, and because they are so graphically seen in the 
passages previously quoted from The Passing of Arthur 
and The Bride of Abydos, we need not pause to elucidate 
them further. We may, however, give a single illustra- 
tion of the appeals made in literature to those sense or- 
gans of somewhat lesser note — feeling, taste, and smell. 

Among the images rich in their wealth of touch 
impressions, I know of none that makes a more deli- 
cately sensuous appeal than the one created by Ros- 
setti in The Blessed Damozel. You will recall the pic- 
ture of the ethereal maiden leaning over the bar of 
heaven. To this visual image the poet adds details 
beautifully illustrative of the tactile sense and the 
feeling of warmth. Is it possible for any one to read 
this stanza without re-creating the sensation of flesh 
and warmth, and thus from this emotion derive a 
genuine aesthetic pleasure? 

And still she bowed herself and stooped 

Out of her circling charm; 

Until her bosom must have made 

The bar she leaned on warm, 

And the lilies lay as if asleep 

Upon her bended ana. 



THE TEACHING OF THE LYRIC 165 

Taste and odor have not been so frequently em- 
ployed by the poets in their creation of sensory images, 
but William Harney saw the possibilities of the former 
when in his Adonais he wrote : — 

All the heart was full of feeling; love had ripened into speech 
Like the Sap that turns to nectar, in the velvet of the peach. 

And there are few more delicate appeals to odor than 

Shelley's sensitive simile that likens the emanation of 

song from the skylark to the emanation of odor from 

the rose: — 

Like a rose embowered 
In its own green leaves, 
By warm winds deflowered, 
Till the scent it gives 
Makes faint with too much sweet those heavy-winged thieves. 

The enumeration of all these suggestions shows us 
how far we have advanced from that primitive or 
juvenile existence that found its pleasure in the merely 
mechanical. Poetry has acquired a new charm as we, 
along with our students, have grown more mature. 
The vague, mystical longings in our own nature are 
in part resolved, in part simply phrased by the poets. 
It is now a portion of our aesthetic joy that we as in- 
dividuals are, by virtue of a developed thought and 
emotion, privileged to share in the communal thought 
and emotion of men whom we instinctively recognize 
as at once superior and sympathetic. Their laughter 
has been our laughter, their tears our tears, their long- 
ings our longings, their enigmas our enigmas, their 
subjection and shame and solace our subjection and 



166 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

shame and solace. And out of their sympathetic ex- 
pression has arisen our love and our confidence and our 
hope. We find that we can be taught new truths ; that 
out of the fiery tortures of the present may flow a more 
easeful and less mystifying future. Life may still be 
complex and chaotic, — to the thoughtful it will al- 
ways be so, — but a portion at least of its less subtle 
spiritual nebula is resolved and a valuable lesson has 
been learned. It would, of course, be impossible to 
estimate how much comfort Longfellow has brought 
to the world by his Psalm of Life, but more than one 
tortured soul has testified to its solacing power. And 
Francis Thompson has acknowledged that he was 
saved from suicide by Chatterton. 

What Wordsworth said of nature many can with 
equal truthfulness say of poetry, though in either case 
it is doubtless a harmless but suggestive exaggera- 
tion: — 

't is her privilege, 
Through all the years of this our life, to lead 
From joy to joy; for she can so inform 
The mind that is within us, so impress 
With quietness and beauty, and so feed 
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, 
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, 
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all 
The dreary intercourse of daily life, 
Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb 
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold 
Is full of blessing. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 

We have passed into that period of change when the 
reading of fiction is no longer questioned, but is, on the 
other hand, encouraged and accepted as one of the val- 
uable contributing agencies to culture. This changed 
attitude has brought to the English teacher a new 
obligation; those novels which we admit into our high- 
school course must be taught in such a manner that 
the resulting developed taste of our pupils will come 
naturally and inevitably to discriminate against the 
tawdry, the sentimental, the flaccid, and the perni- 
cious. 

One of our first convictions should be the necessity 
of creating in our pupils an intelligent reverence for the 
works that have become classic. We may say of novels 
what Longfellow, in Hyperion, once said of men : — 

Time has a Doomsday-Book upon whose pages he is con- 
tinually recording illustrious names. But as often as a new- 
name is written there an old one disappears. Only a few 
stand in illuminated characters never to be effaced. These 
are the high Nobility of Nature, Lords of the Public Domain 
of Thought. Posterity shall never question their titles. But 
those whose fame lives in the indiscreet opinion of unwise 
men must soon be as well forgotten as if they had never been. 

Certainly there are a few of the novels commonly 
read in the high schools whose title to fame posterity 



168 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

may never question. A Tale of Two Cities, Silas 
Marner, Henry Esmond, and Ivanhoe — each of these 
readily falls within this classification; each has its gen- 
eral and particular reasons for commanding classic ap- 
proval. The problem of the English teacher is to pre- 
sent these masterpieces of fiction in such an intelligent 
and alluring way as to reveal their inherent interest 
and to establish their permanent worth. And accept- 
ance of this interest and worth by the pupil will help, 
by induction, to establish the literary value of other 
novels which the world has accepted as classic. 

But such acceptance demands a teaching technique. 
What shall be our method of approach? What our 
teaching process during the days that the selected 
books are being studied? Is it, indeed, desirable that 
there shall be uniform choice? May not each pupil be 
assigned a separate novel? Or at least may there not 
be extended freedom? 

In his attempt to answer some of these questions, 
Mr. Walter S. Hinchman, of the Groton School, has 
developed what he calls the Book Club. Below the 
sixth form — corresponding to the regular senior year 
of the high school — there is in the Groton School no 
required literature course. The selections are all dic- 
tated by the pupils, acting always under the stimula- 
tion and guidance of the teacher. On literature days 
there is no specific assignment; the instructor simply 
reminds the class of the meeting of the Book Club and 
offers the suggestions he wishes. This means that each 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 169 

member may read whatever he pleases, and come to 
the club prepared to report informally upon this read- 
ing. He may select a poem, an essay, a drama, a maga- 
zine article, a short story, a novel (whole or in part) — 
anything, indeed, which his whim, his good sense, his 
maturing taste, dictates. The discussion of these selec- 
tions comprises the recitation, and may accordingly 
involve a wide range of topics. As the classes at Groton 
are small — from seven to fifteen usually — most of 
the members have adequate time to give their individ- 
ual reports. 

This brief outline of the plan is sufficient for any 
teacher to catch the hint and adapt it to his own 
classes — particularly his classes in fiction. It may be 
a good plan to have a different chairman and a dif- 
ferent secretary for each meeting of the club. The 
chairman may lead the discussion; the secretary may 
keep notes which may later be expanded into full 
minutes and be read at the following meeting. The 
teacher may simply be a lay member of the club; if the 
chairman chooses to call upon him he gives his report 
on his current reading; or, if he wishes to ask a ques- 
tion or offer comment he speaks from the common 
floor and not from the pedagogue's chair. 

By experiment, teachers will discover that this 
method is admirably adapted to stimulate the rapid 
and pleasuref ul reading of the best of the modern books. 
Most of us, as we try to review the formation of our own 
literary tastes, will recall that it was developed largely 



170 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

by three agencies — our teachers, our family, and our 
friends. Perhaps we were prone to accept the recom- 
mendations of our teachers and parents with some 
reserve — we knew their primness, their maturity, and 
the conventional demands of their officialdom. But 
the enthusiastic praise of our friends for a particular 
book urged immediate reading, and we approached 
this reading with fervid anticipation of the proper 
thrills. The results of such stimulation and reaction 
we may see revealed in the Book-Club meetings. 

In such meetings, moreover, the teacher's enthusi- 
asm for a particular book acquires more kinetic force; 
as the atmosphere becomes more equable, more com- 
panionable, the teacher's advice becomes more solu- 
ble, more permeating. I am sure that my own veiled 
advice to read Henry James's The Madonna of the 
Future, offered in one of our club meetings, was re- 
ceived with more confidence and yielded a fuller fruit- 
age because it was shorn of all ex-cathedra formalism 
and pedagogical vesture. 

But to adopt the scheme as an exclusive method 
would, in most high schools, be a mistake. It smacks 
too richly of the Montessori flavor. Absolutely free 
election has been proved to be unwise in the college; 
it is perilous in the high school. Pupils are too young, 
too immature, too wavering, to make the best selec- 
tion. Where the dominating personality of a master is 
so strong as inevitably to force the right choice, the 
Book-Club method really differs little from the ortho- 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 171 

dox, the imposed course. Moreover, we should repose 
little faith in the assertion that an imposed task is 
necessarily a hated task. Thought and skill are of 
course necessary to shear away any acquired dread 
and thus make the assigned work of highest re-active 
value to the pupils. Such thought every true teacher 
will generously give; such skill every true teacher will 
ultimately acquire. But the Book Club is of unques- 
tioned value and deserves a trial. 

A method which may be found more stable and more 
basic than the Book Club is one that — for want of 
a better name — has been called the Lancastrian 1 
method of teaching fiction. Experiment will prove its 
worth, for the method stimulates keen interest and 
is founded on a fundamental truth — the truth that 
personal responsibility develops personal power. Is 
it not true that most of us who are teachers recognize 
that our firmest grasp of a subject has come to us when 
we were preparing to present it to a class? Why not, 
then, by creating a similar situation, develop for the 
pupil a responsibility akin to this ? The sequence of 
this inquiry, which I addressed to myself a few years 
ago, was the adoption of this Lancastrian method. 
I adopted it because, of all methods I could think of 
or devise, it most rigorously demands from the pupil 
that spirit of thoroughness and responsibility that the 

1 Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838) was an English educator who 
gained favor both in England and America by free use of the moni- 
torial system. 



172 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

conscientious teacher always feels in preparing his own 
work. 

The class is commencing, let us say, the study of 
A Tale of Two Cities. For the purpose of getting the 
main threads of the story securely in leash, the pupils 
are encouraged, or required, to read the book through. 
Some introductory words are necessary; such, for ex- 
ample, as the significance of the title, the fact that the 
events are associated with the French Revolution, and 
the helpful detail that in many respects this book is 
not typical of Dickens's characteristic work. It may 
be wise to add that though the beginning may seem a 
bit cryptic and tedious, the book by a general con- 
sensus of high-school readers ranks among the first in 
the list of popular favorites. After some such introduc- 
tion the pupil is left to himself while he reads the book 
through for its story interest. This reading goes on 
while the classwork is devoted to something else — 
composition, rhetoric, or public speaking, perhaps. 
Only such questions are asked or such comments made 
as will keep the interest of each member of the class 
intent on the perusal of the story. If on this first read- 
ing some pupil becomes too deeply involved in the 
intricacies of the plot, the teacher will take sufficient 
time to make any necessary explanation; but the time 
allowed for this — most economically taken at the 
beginning of a recitation — should be brief. 

In a week or more this first rapid reading is finished 
and the more detailed study begins. This detailed 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 173 

study embraces one chief demand — the framing of 
questions designed to bring out the significant details 
of setting, plot, and character. Special importance, 
moreover, is attached to these questions because the 
pupils are told that they are to prepare this lesson for 
the purpose of teaching it. Each pupil must be ready 
each day to come before the class and conduct the 
recitation. The teacher, during the class period, may 
remain wholly in the background or emerge only when 
a serious mistake is made, or when further comment is 
desirable, or when fruitless discussion should end. 

While the chief responsibility may temporarily rest 
upon the pupil in charge, emphasis in the earlier trial 
of the method must fall upon the willingness of each 
individual member to contribute to the collective 
worth and virility of the recitation. Errors must be 
corrected, omissions supplied, and partial comments 
made complete. And for all this each member of the 
class is made to feel responsible. A generated spirit of 
complete freedom will allow interesting disagreements 
and friendly debate that will bring out obscure points 
in the story, indistinct phases of character, and helpful 
comments upon some of the varied problems of our 
complicated human life. 

The pupil, as temporary teacher, will at first rely 
mainly upon his prepared questions, which he has 
written out in his notebook; but his own experience and 
the observed experience of his classmates will finally 
develop a strength and freedom that allow a wider and 



174 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

richer range. His extempore comments and questions 
will increase in number; his own improvisations will 
beget a spirit of animated and informal discussion; 
any temporary embarrassment will disappear as the 
interest deepens. And this socializing work — if wisely 
directed and controlled — is the most valuable part of 
the English period. 

For the purpose of illustrating this method con- 
cretely, I am inserting here a list of questions prepared 
by my own students in the regular course of Junior 
English while the class was studying the beginning 
chapters of A Tale of Two Cities: — 

Student's Questions on the Earlier Chapters of the Tale 
of Two Cities 
Chapter I. 

1. What does the title of this chapter suggest as to its 
contents? 

2. Can you better understand the first paragraph by com- 
paring the conditions there described with the present 
conditions in Europe? 

3. What is the significance in the contrast Dickens makes 
between conditions in England and conditions in 
France? 

4. Do you like Dickens's method of introducing the story, 
or would you rather have had this chapter omitted, or 
placed somewhere else? 

5. How does the opening of the story differ from the open- 
ing of the current novels? 

6. What characteristics of Dickens are revealed in the 
first chapter? 

7. Can you justify the satirical note of this chapter? Does 
this note of satire permeate the entire story? 

8. What instance of dramatic foreshadowing is given in 
Chapter I? 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 175 

9. Describe the power of the law at this time. Do you 
think any of it is exaggerated? 
10. Explain the allusions to the Woodman Fate and the 
Farmer Death. 

Chapter II. 

1. What was the situation of affairs on Shooter's Hill that 
Friday night in November? 

2. Why does this whole chapter seem vivid and real? 

3. Is the fact that the three passengers were wrapped 
with clothes so as not to be seen, suggestive of any- 
thing? 

4. What sort of man is the guard? How is his character 
portrayed? 

5. Why is the guard so surprised at the sound of a horse? 

6. What sort of answers does he give to Jerry? 

7. What does the answer "Recalled to Life" suggest? 
What may it be? 

8. What does Jerry's talk at the very end of the chapter 
mean? (He says he would be in a bad way, if recalling 
to life was the fashion.) 

9. Who is the most important character mentioned in 
Chapter II? Why? 

10. How does this chapter hold your interest? 

11. What is the attitude of the passengers toward each 
• other? 

Chapter III. 

1. Why does Dickens put this first paragraph in at this 
point? 

2. Why is this bit of general truth especially adaptable 
to the times? 

3. Why is Jerry so haunted by the shadows? 

4. Does Dickens's use of any particular part of speech ap- 
peal to you? 

5. What were Mr. Lorry's thoughts as he rode along in the 
mail? 

6. What have you learned so far of Jerry's character? 



176 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Chapter IV. 

1. In what state did the coach arrive at Dover? 

2. How was business done at the Inn? 

3. What can be said of the curiosity of the people at the 
Inn? 

4. How did Mr. Lorry appear? 

5. What interesting order did he give to the drawer who 
brought his breakfast? 

6. Did the drawers of those days differ much from the 
porters and waiters of our day? Explain your answer. 

7. What sort of a place was Dover? 

8. Why was the lamplighter unendurable? 

9. How did Mr. Lorry spend his day? 

10. What interesting person is introduced to us? 

11. What are your first impressions of her? 

12. Describe her apartment. 

13. Were the decorations — the negro cupids — introduced 
for a purpose? 

14. Why was Mr. Lorry troubled? 

[ 15. What pleasantries were exchanged? 

16. Was Mr. Lorry a stranger to Miss Manette? Why so? 

17. What remarkable qualities of expression did Miss 
Manette have? 

18. When Mr. Lorry said, "story," why did she repeat it? 

19. Why did Mr. Lorry willfully mistake the word? 

20. What short sketch of himself and his work does Mr. 
Lorry give? 

21. Why does Mr. Lorry attempt to conceal that he is tell- 
ing Dr. Manette's story? 

22. What startling fact does he tell? 

23. How had Dr. Manette's wife brought up her daughter? 

24. What effect did the statement that her father was alive 
have upon Miss Manette? 

25. When Mr. Lorry had finished, what was her condi- 
tion? 

26. What did Mr. Lorry do? 

27. Describe the personage who answered his call? 

28. How did she handle the proceedings? 

29. How did she treat Mr. Lorry? 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 177 

It is, of course, apparent that before the best and 
most suggestive questions can be asked, a certain 
amount of instruction must be given concerning the 
elements of story-telling and the art of fiction. Many 
of these elements and much of this art the pupil in the 
high school has unconsciously absorbed; such garner- 
ing is the divine heritage of the home and school train- 
ing. But it is altogether unlikely that the pupil has 
either analyzed or systematized this knowledge; it is 
fragmentary and chaotic, and it is the teacher's privi- 
lege to clarify it and to set it out in a more orderly and 
a more tangible form. 

It must not, therefore, be assumed that because this 
Lancastrian method demands the greatest possible ac- 
tivity on the part of the pupil that it therefore lessens 
correspondingly the obligation of the teacher; upon the 
teacher still rests the privileged duty of disclosing 
things that an untrained reader might not see. Sig- 
nificant details in plot structure, dramatic f oreshadow- 
ings, character contrasts, effects of character upon plot, 
the full import of given situations — these, and a score 
of other items necessary for the genuine appreciation 
of fiction study, the alert teacher will daily disclose. 
Moreover, he will have to make the most painstaking 
preparations in order to disclose it skillfully. 

As the study of the novel progresses, the instructor 
may therefore become more analytical in his aims; al- 
ways, however, he must be on his guard lest his own 
more matured literary taste and training lead him too 



178 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

far away from the simple narration of story and the 
saliency of the concrete incident. All except the imma- 
ture pupils in the high school, however, will be inter- 
ested in the simpler analysis that discloses the inter- 
esting fact that in planning and executing his story 
almost any writer of fiction concerns himself with 
three distinct types of things : — 

1. The events that happen. 

2. The places where these events happen. 

3. The persons to whom these events happen. 

The class will be interested in learning that we have 
agreed upon three simple terms that name these dif- 
ferentiated phases of fiction — (1) Plot; (2) Setting; 
(3) Character. 

1. Plot 

In teaching a group of students the technical signif- 
icance of plot many teachers will find it helpful to 
liken the idea of plot to the idea of design — more par- 
ticularly the design in a piece of woven cloth, a carpet, 
or a medallion rug. Imagine, if you will, a large medal- 
lion rug spread out in front of a class who are studying 
A Tale of Two Cities. The border or frame of this rug 
may be compared to the French Revolution, which 
supplies the enveloping action of the story and sur- 
rounds it continually with its menacing interest. The 
characters coming and going, meeting and passing, 
are the various threads that combine and recombine 
in such a complicated way that, watching the weaver 
at his loom, we should be puzzled to know the ultimate 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 179 

place and function of the several strands. Viewing the 
finished product, however, we can trace the precon- 
ceived design set within this portentous enveloping 
border. When we see Sydney Carton in the prison, 
preparing for his final sacrifice, we understand why, 
early in the story, Dickens had made Carton toss to 
Mr. Stryver the note which called attention to the 
similarity of Carton's and Darnay's features. Or when 
Charles Darnay, on his wedding morning, has imparted 
to Dr. Manette the secret of his birth and identity 
(book ii, chap, xviii), we suspect that the look which 
passes over the doctor's face is engendered by the same 
emotion that cast a similar shadowy indication that 
particular Sunday afternoon under the plane-tree 
(book ii, chap. vi). We further identify it with that 
emotion revealed at the time that Darney confesses to 
Dr. Manette his ardent love for Lucie (book n, 
chap, x) : — 

So strange was the way in which he faded into silence, and 
so strange his fixed look when he ceased to speak, that 
Darnay felt his own hand turn cold in the hand that slowly 
released and dropped it. 

The full nature of this woven design of tapestried 
effect is not revealed, however, until at the close of the 
book we read the blood-written story in which Dr. 
Manette discloses the secret crimes of Charles Dar- 
nay's uncle and father — the Evremonde brothers, 
aristocrats and accomplices in crime. 

These details are merely illustrative. The pupil may 



180 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 



be asked to trace the various actions and to train him- 
self to see the significance of chance meetings or chance 
missings. 

Because the simile of the weaving design cannot al- 
ways be carried out in detail, some teachers prefer to 
use the figure of sowing and reaping, tanglement and 
disentanglement, cause and effect, loose building ma- 
terial and finished structure. Freytag's Technique of 
the Drama, as simplified by Miss Woodbridge, may 
prove suggestive if not taken too literally. We can at 
least use the triangle. 

climax 

V 




We must not, however, insist that this triangle be 
isosceles; the course of plot may often be more truly 
presented by the following graph: — 



o* 



~cd&2 



&«* 



$<£- 



climax 



o, 



\ 



<§> 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 181 

The search for the climax — roughly conceived as 
the place where the complication begins to cease and 
the resolution begins to commence — often proves a 
mere ignis fatuus. In Silas Marner it is perhaps rather 
satisfactorily placed at the coming of Eppie. The sim- 
ple fact remains, however, that most writers construct 
their stories with no definite conception that they are 
going to provide a situation which pedagogues in the 
English classrooms can gloatingly corral and forthwith 
erect a signboard flashily labeled — Eureka ! The crisis ! 

There are, on the other hand, preconceived points of 
high interest, and novelists take great pains in effec- 
tively leading up to these points of interest. In some 
stories — notably A Tale of Two Cities at the sacrifi- 
cial exchange of prisoners — there is a point of highest 
human interest. These may mark a turning-point in the 
movement of the plot; or they may simply mark points 
of high culminating intensity. To discuss these — to 
question the source of their appeal, to explain the au- 
thor's preparation, to argue their naturalness, to con- 
done their baseness or to justify their elaborateness — ■ 
such themes are likely to yield a larger fruitage than a 
class search for a non-existent or a highly dubious crisis. 

The search for the catastrophe — a highly dramatic 
denouement near the close of the action — may be 
equally futile. On the stage it is rarely absent, for the 
desire to externalize action is there more insistent. 
In such a novel as The Mill on the Floss, however, 
the death of Tom and Maggie Tulliver by drowning 



182 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

solves the tragic entanglement as completely as does 
Macduff's killing of Macbeth, or the parallel suicide 
of Antony and Cleopatra. The death of Arthur 
Dimmesdale in Hester Prynne's arms supplies the 
tragic catastrophe of The Scarlet Letter. Eppie's de- 
cision to renounce Godfrey's offer and to remain 
steadfastly with her adopted father is externally less 
dramatic but no less final — no less significant. In 
many modern novels, however, we find that the author 
has made no provision for a catastrophe. The plot ends 
as most plots end in daily life — the characters pass 
from situation to situation and the story finally ends 
with neither unusual triumph nor unusual disaster. 
The last chapter ends long before " life's poor dream 
is o'er." 

The class in fiction will soon discover that most 
plots — particularly those of any marked elaboration 
— represent a struggle. In the old Greek and Norse 
stories this opposing force was frequently represented 
as Fate. In the modern story it may be an abstract 
social system, convention, inheritance, environment. 
More frequently, as in the romantic novel as Stevenson 
wrote it, the concrete opposing force may be a hero's 
enemy in the form of a criminal with a single crutch. 
Or it may be, as in the case of Quentin Durward, a 
brave young man triumphing over many — over 
Dunois, Orleans, Hayraddin, Crevecceur, and even 
King Louis himself. 

Whatever the type of story, we are likely to be 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 183 

most concerned with the issue of a certain pursuing 
Nemesis, and the triumph of this avenging god. The 
ancient curse of the Maules hung like a pall over the 
Pyncheon family, and ever and anon, as fitting occa- 
sion offered, the curse significantly manifests its spe- 
cific power. The temperamental tendency to evade 
a moral crisis wrought its tragic havoc upon Tito 
Melema as well as upon Godfrey Cass. The evil that 
the Evremondes practiced provoked its final retribu- 
tion when Gaspard's knife drove the Marquis fast to 
his tomb — that from Jacques ! 

Before a student has read many novels, this relation- 
ship of crimes and punishments following in their in- 
evitable wake will make him more watchful for suc- 
ceeding events; he will begin at the first chapter to 
watch for an artistic and significant sequence of events. 
He will learn to " catch hints of the proper craft, 
tricks of the tool's true play." To one of these devices 
he will learn to apply a term now generally accepted — 
foreshadowing, or dramatic foreshadowing. At the be- 
ginning of Poe's Fall of the House of Usher, for ex- 
ample, he will catch the spirit of impending gloom and 
quickly assume that the end is to be tragic. The 
reader will be interested in noting that as soon as the 
narrator comes within sight of the melancholy House 
of Usher, there are unmistakable hints of these strange 
forebodings : — 

I knew not how it was, but, with the first glimpse of the 
building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. 



184 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Once inside the house he feels the atmosphere become 
even more oppressive, and his spirit cringes as he views 
the somber tapestries of the walls and the ebon black- 
ness of the floors. He is in the stifled midst of stern, 
deep, and irredeemable gloom. Then as each detail of 
the narrative fits so appropriately into the tragic 
spirit so ominously regnant, we are not surprised when 
we approach the end of the story to feel the inevitable- 
ness of the tragic doom. 

At the same time that an author is thus foreshadow- 
ing events he is equally concerned in not letting these 
events reveal themselves too quickly. Students will 
themselves discover the author's reason for withhold- 
ing such plot information — he wants to retain us 
firmly in the leash of interest, or — to change the fig- 
ure — to lure us on to the further journey. This de- 
vice we call suspense. A good illustration is in A Tale 
of Two Cities — the scene that describes the attack 
upon the Bastille. Def arge makes a thorough search for 
the document that he suspects may have been hidden 
in One Hundred Five, North Tower. We follow him in 
his frenzied flight to the place and watch him in his 
feverish search. But Dickens will not tell us then of 
the outcome; he awaits the more dramatic moment of 
the second trial when the document is read in the grim 
and silent court. 

Just how far we should lead a given class into the 
technique of plot will always be a question. We may 
perhaps find our wisest restraint in the thought that 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 185 

when class interest is found to be centering in tech- 
nique rather than in the story itself, the teacher should 
immediately bring the class back to the significant 
points of the story itself. It is always better for the 
high-school pupil to know well the good story that has 
been written rather than the mere way in which that 
story was written. The study of technique is valuable 
only to the degree that it forces us to see more clearly 
the story as " in itself it really is." 

2. Setting 

Instinctively we are always interested in the place 
where an incident happens. In narrating simple ex- 
periences of our own we almost unconsciously include 
the location. How natural it is to say, " The other day 
as I was returning from Chicago "; " While we were en- 
camped before Vicksburg "; "Just as we were passing 
Minot's Light "; or some similar phrase of identifica- 
tion. When we speak of the setting of a novel, how- 
ever, we usually mean something more than mere 
location. We surround the scene with something 
strongly individual and prevailing. Over and around 
us hovers a peculiarly impregnated atmosphere that 
inevitably colors the incidents of the story. A sugges- 
tion of the pregnant influence of setting is suggested by 
what Mr. Edwin L. Shuman has written concerning 
his visit to Eden Phillpotts, where he describes the 
novelist's surroundings and methods of work. He 
says: — 



186 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

As we wandered through the wonderful garden which is 
the Dartmoor novelist's sole diversion, he remarked with a 
twinkle in his blue-gray eyes that he was inclined to see red 
just then. A question brought out the fact that his imagina- 
tion was steeped in the red clay of the Devon potteries near 
Torquay, where he had long been at work on Brunel'3 Tower. 
This led to an explanation of his method of composition. 
"You may think it a topsy-turvy way," he said, "but I 
always select the setting first and evolve the plot and char- 
acters from it. I never create a story and then look for scenes 
into which to fit it. The people of a novel, I believe, should 
grow up out of the soil on which they act out their little 
drama." Her" we have a key to much in this author's art. 
What Thomas Hardy did occasionally, as when he made 
Egdon Heath an overshadowing power in The Return of the 
Native, Mr. Phillpotts has done habitually in the twenty 
volumes of his "modest comedy of Dartmoor." Though he 
is now working in other parts of Devonshire, his method is the 
same. In the case of Brunei's Tower, he told me he lived 
among the potters three months before setting pen to paper, 
making friends among the workmen and even shaping earth- 
enware with his own hands, until the red clay got into the 
blood of his characters. Knowing the author's method, one 
reads BruneVs Tower with a fresh interest. Every man and 
woman in the story is seen to live and move in the atmosphere 
of George Easterbrook's pottery as completely as a goldfish 
in an aquarium. Not only their bodies, but their souls, are 
subdued to the color of the clay. From the wise and kindly 
master to the ambitious and faulty Harvey Porter, all have 
been created out of the matter and spirit of the place. The 
whole group is typified in old Tom Body, who comes to be- 
lieve that the clay has a soul, and finally talks to the pots as 
he shapes them on the wheel. 

Something similar to this is seen in most novels of 
great power. How strongly we feel the smoke and soot 
and grime in Tarkington's The Turmoil and in Dick- 
ens's Hard Times. Equally strong is the dominating 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 187 

power of machinery in Margaret Deland's The Iron 
Woman. 

In Sokrab and Rustum — for in narrative poetry the 
setting is as important an element as it is in prose 
fiction — the vital presence of the Oxus River is only 
a little less interesting than the characters and the 
incidents themselves. We start our story in its pres- 
ence — 

And the first gray of the morning filled the east, 
And the fog rose out of the Oxus stream. 

While father and son fight near its banks and when in 
sympathy Ruksh utters his dreadful cry, the Oxus 
curdled as the wild notes cross the stream. Finally, 
as Sohrab lay dead upon the sand and Rustum 
crouched in sorrow beside his son, the cold fog crept 
from the Oxus, and the majestic river floated on out of 
the mist and hum of that low land, its dominating 
presence an integral and inevitable part of the splendid 
poem. 

And thus it is in almost all great narratives. Beauty, 
fear, hope, ecstasy, absorption, ambition, aspiration, 
despair — any of these may be revealed or intensified 
by the author's power in portraying the settings of his 
stories. And in proportion as he in creating felt their 
power, the student in re-creating is interpreting their 
power. 

3. Character 

The teacher who is a true craftsman will study his 
class in order to see how far they are able to penetrate 



188 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

into the mysteries of character. With the less mature 
divisions he will dwell merely upon the bolder aspects 
of villainy and virtue. This is why Scott and Cooper 
are so well suited for the younger high-school classes — 
particularly if the abridged editions of their novels be 
used. Their characters are conceived in bold outline; 
the strong and weak elements are easily discernible and 
the good and the bad distinctly differentiated. The 
study of Cooper is easier only because his vocabulary 
is simpler and the life he portrays more familiar to the 
imagination. In design and method of character por- 
trayed the two writers are almost identical. In modern 
times Jack London has struck a similar note. Young 
pupils like to watch the good contending with the bad 
and to see the final triumph of power or skill or bravery 
or devotion, as these qualities manifest themselves in 
a bold and elemental way. 

With a more mature class, emphasis may wisely fall 
upon the unusual types that Hawthorne's temperament 
and skill enabled him to portray. The pupil will readily 
feel that when he goes back with Hawthorne to old 
Salem, there to acquaint himself with Judge Pyncheon 
and Uncle Venner and all the inmates of the seven- 
gabled house, that he is indeed in a rare and compli- 
cated company, and exposed to whims and sensations 
that he never even vaguely conceived when he was fol- 
lowing the adventures of Hawkeye and Ivanhoe and 
John Silver. What a rare assembly, indeed, — those 
Salem folk! 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 189 

Hepzibah, brave, tender-hearted Hepzibah, scowling, 
turbaned, faded, forlorn, poverty-stricken spinster, her life 
fed by two flames — pride of ancestry, love for her brother; 
Clifford, poor, shattered lover of the beautiful, a child at 
sixty delighting in bees and hummingbirds, blowing soap- 
bubbles, starting back in terror from faces leering at him from 
the depths of Maule's well — poor, persecuted Clifford; the 
Judge, hiding a black heart beneath sultry smiles, so de- 
monstrably respectable and charitable, so damnably selfish 
and carnal; Phoebe, beautiful in the twilight time between 
youth and womanhood; strange Holgrave, scorning tradi- 
tions, a dabbling philosopher advancing theories experimen- 
tally, almost a true man, yet dangerously near the opaque 
puddle that has swallowed up the rest of his line; Uncle Ven- 
ner, patch philosopher, trundling his matutinal barrow; and 
that delightful young cannibal Ned Higgins, who devours 
whales and dromedaries; and the chickens, so humanly gal- 
linaceous, drinking with gusto the bitter waters from Maule's 
well, fattening their diminutive bodies on snails, and making 
such a pretty ado over the production of one small egg. How 
well we know all these — ■ better indeed than we know our 
neighbors. Hawthorne has revealed them, not by flashlight, 
but by patient analysis born of love and hate. We know them 
because he knew them; he knew them because they were part 
of him ; their composite is Hawthorne himself, a truer portrait 
than that which looks down on me from study wall — a 
faithful, fearless likeness. 1 

In the quoted paragraph complicity is studied in the 
character group; it may, with these mature classes, 
be also studied and analyzed in a single character, such 
as Beatrix Esmond — her charm, beauty, virtue, can- 
dor, intention, pride, jealousy, adroitness, ambition, 
brilliancy, and cruelty, all held in easy summons for 

1 Alfred M. Hitchcock, "The Relation of the Picture Play to 
Literature," The English Journal, May 1915. A paper read before 
the New England Association of Teachers of English. 



190 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

selective alliance, for swift attack, or for irresistible 
counterplay. To watch her throughout the varying 
triumph and vicissitudes to which Fate subjects her, 
to determine the momentary effect of each crisis as 
well as the permanent effect as portrayed in the open- 
ing chapters of The Virginians —to do this thoroughly 
is to travel emotionally all the way from extreme irri- 
tation to complete infatuation and to swing from 
one to the other with mercurial swiftness, and to rest 
finally in wondering appreciation of Thackeray's para- 
mount skill. 

In another type of analytic mood, a teacher will 
direct attention to the difference between a static 
character and a developing character. Squire Cass, 
in George Eliot's Silas Marner, may be cited as an 
example of a static character. During the progress of 
the story his character does not change — he is stern, 
domineering, impetuous to the end. Silas Marner, in 
contrast, is a developing character. As a young man 
he was religious, trustful, and sociable. His experience 
with William Dane and his early life at Raveloe changed 
him into a non-religious, suspicious, and miserly man. 
With the loss of his money, the care of Eppie, and the 
influence of the Winthrops, he developed into a steady, 
unselfish workman performing vicariously deeds that 
lifted him far above the narrow sordidness of the lonely 
hut that in former years had hoarded the gold of a 
miserable miser. In connection with the study of 
developing characters, the students will be interested 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 191 

in knowing that the little Indian girl, Ayacanora, in 
Kingsley's Westward Ho ! is one of the most striking 
examples in all fiction. From the wild, hunted creature 
of the Orinoco forests she becomes the kind and gentle 
creature devotedly ministering to every want of the 
mother of Amyas Leigh in her peaceful English home. 

Marked examples of deterioration are seen in such 
cases as Tito Melema in Romola, Tom Gradgrind in 
Hard Times, Anna Karenina, and Tess in Tess of the 
D' Urbervilles. 

Further analysis of character and methods of its 
revelation may disclose a knowledge of the different 
ways a novelist has of portraying character. The 
teacher, deductively, may lead his pupil to see that 
character is portrayed in four ways : — 

1. By what the person says or fails to say. 

2. By what the person does or fails to do. 

3. By what is said about the person. 

(a) By the author. 

(b) By the other persons in the story. 

4. By what the person causes others to do. 

Formal analysis of this kind must not, however, be 
allowed to become too strongly stereotyped or be used 
too frequently. It is stimulating when used as a means 
to an end; it is deadening when used as an end in itself. 
Saving principles are vitality, variety, and proportion. 
And it is to be further remembered that abstractions 
soon become tiresome; they need constantly the en- 
livening stimulus that concreteness brings. 

Teachers will not omit the opportunity that com- 



192 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

parison and contrast offer. Shakespeare considers two 
of his dramatis persona? in Hamlet so much alike that 
sometimes he calls them Rosencrantz and Guildenstem 
and at other times Guildenstem and Rosencrantz — 
a part of our dislike comes from this exact duplication 
of subserviency. Very seldom, however, in fiction, in 
drama, or in life, is there this exactness of creation — 
Priscilla and Nancy Lammeter have many points in 
common, but we like to mark their differences. There 
are many community resemblances in the group at 
the Rainbow, but even casual observation detects the 
varieties. Character contrast is nowhere more strik- 
ingly portrayed in fiction than in Sydney Carton, " the 
fellow of no delicacy," and Stryver, " the fellow of 
delicacy." * Each acts as a foil to accentuate the char- 
acteristics of the other. 

With more mature classes comparison and contrasts 
in character may profitably go beyond the pale of the 
novel under consideration and draw its illustrations 
from the broad field of general fiction. Dolly Winthrop 
in Silas Marner may be compared with Mrs. Tulliver 
in The Mill on the Floss. 

These methods of studying character do not pretend 

to be exhaustive. Teachers will naturally call attention 

to such interesting points as indirect portrayal (Mac- 

beth's Genius rebuked in the presence of Banquo); 

1 A satisfactory theme assignment in the study of A Tale of Two 
Cities is A Character Contrast limiting the student to the three chap- 
ters — "A Fellow of Delicacy"; "A Fellow of No Delicacy"; and 
" A Companion Picture." , 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 193 

character hints from costume; emphasis upon peculiar 
physiognomy; significant and highly characteristic 
mannerisms (Bitzer's knuckling his forehead in Hard 
Times); the practice of Dickens to employ a great 
many characters in contrast with Hawthorne who uses 
so few; self -revealing names (Mr. M'Choakumchild, 
Mr. Stryver, Mr. Obstinate), the tendency that some 
authors have to analyze their characters, pointing out 
details as a stereopticon lecturer does with his rod of 
bamboo; and the influence that place and atmosphere 
exert, the personal attitude of the author toward the 
characters. All these will inevitably suggest them- 
selves to the discerning teacher. 

All the time that we are studying the plot, setting, 
and character, we are, through this study, getting 
acquainted with the author as an individual and as a 
craftsman in fiction. Not from biography, but from his 
writings, perhaps we have unconsciously acquired suf- 
ficient knowledge of the author to answer — tenta- 
tively, at least — such varied questions as these, many 
of them already discussed, but here more concretely 
set forth: — 

1. What seems to be the author's general attitude toward 
the poorer classes? 

2. Does he seem more at home among the princes or among 
the peasants? 

3. Are his heroes likely to be heroes on the battlefield or 
heroes in the domestic vicissitudes of life? 

4. Does the author make his characters the victims of ex- 
ternal fate, or are they the victims of their own weak- 
nesses, or victors by their own strength? 



194 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

5. Has the author a keen sense of humor? 

6. Is this humor shown principally by the situation or by 
the dialogue? 

7. In what ways does the author show his personal bias? 
Or is he entirely free from it? 

8. Does the author show any decided preference for na- 
ture and the out-of-doors? 

9. How does he show his interest in the superstitious and 
the mystical? 

10. In portraying characters does he depend more upon 
dialogue and action or upon character analysis? Which 
method do you find more interesting? 

11. What evidences of the author's early environment are 
apparent in the story? 

12. Do you consider his use of historical data accurate? 
Are his violations justifiable? 

13. Do you feel that you can generally detect his ethical 
aims? Are they obtrusive? 

14. Can you generally determine whether or not he has 
had a college education? Is his lack of academic culture 
a hindrance or a help? 

15. Can you guess his religious bias? 

16. Do you detect any strong party preference? 

17. Is he fair in his treatment of those who disagree? Could 
he be, at the same time, a great artist and a bitter 
partisan? 

18. Do you think of other writers who are markedly like 
him? Markedly different? 

19. Is his race attachment obvious? 

20. Does he seem to view life through the windows of his 
own library, or does he seem to have experienced a vital 
contact with men and affairs? 

21. Is his general outlook optimistic? Pessimistic? 

22. Does he portray a tendency toward sarcasm? 

23. Is his attitude toward his characters sympathetic or 
coldly observant? 

24. Does the author deliberately prepare the reader's mood 
for the action by sympathetic weather, appropriate 
scene, mood of characters, — (a) apprehension, (6) an- 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 195 

ticipation, — by the suggestion of choice words? How 
from these can we detect suggestions of foreboding, of 
joyful expectation, of suspense? 
25. Is the author skillful in giving us a sense of the "spirit 
of place" as Alice Meynell calls it? If he does sharply 
differentiate his scenes, how does he do it? By peculiar 
details? (Cf. Betsey Trotwood's house.) By sugges- 
tion of mystery? (Cf. The House of Seven Gables.) 

In this study of fiction we shall not ignore the ques- 
tion of style. 1 In the earlier years of the high school 
only the more obvious elements will be stressed. Later 
in the course — after the student has himself acquired 
more firmness, more flexibility, more maturity — the 
teacher will dwell upon whatever elements combine to 
give stylistic distinction to the individual author. 

It is not to be inferred from the enumeration of all 
these detailed suggestions that each novel taken up is 
to be subjected to the rigorous examination that in 
each case is possible. Such prolonged and minute study 
would in most cases become nauseating. The discus- 
sions in fiction classes should be quick, crisp, intense, 
and fascinating; and the study upon any one book 
should never be so prolonged as to suggest tedium. To 
spend ten or twelve weeks on a single novel — no dif- 
ference what its length — is pedagogically criminal. 
Most of these stories were written for rapid perusal, to 
offer the reader a few hours of interesting companion- 
ship, to bring him unconsciously into an attitude where 

1 The question of style is more fully treated in the chapter on 
The Teaching of the Essay. Most of the suggestions offered there 
are applicable to style of the novel. 



196 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

truth and beauty and virtue might be more graphically 
portrayed and more reverentially regarded. To pursue 
a method of study that destroys these aims is to de- 
vitalize the study of fiction. Two things — to be very 
concrete — it should be the aim of the teacher to 
create — (1) aesthetic enjoyment and (2) ethical 
response. 

If there is Aesthetic enjoyment the reader will see the 
charm of the story — the nicety of the plot construc- 
tion with its skillful weavings and interweavings of 
action, the appropriateness of the setting, the graphic 
portrayal of character that makes us see these per- 
sonages, not as names upon the page, but as living per- 
sonalities moving about in a world clearly realized. 
And combined with all this should be an appreciation 
of the author's style — reverence for the power which 
the writer has been able to exert over this instrument 
which he has selected as the medium of his artistic 
expression. 

If there is the right sort of ethical response the 
reader will be able to erect a more lofty ideal, or be able 
to bulwark the ideal that in the daily routine of his 
young life is so continually subject to attack and so 
continually in danger of toppling. In laying our stress 
upon the ethical, we may be going counter to the opin- 
ion of many competent literary critics and teachers 
who have strongly inveighed against comment upon 
the moral issues that a story presents. But these issues 
comprise elements implicit in all great literature, and 



THE TEACHING OF PROSE FICTION 197 

interpretation is simply bringing the things that are 
implicit into clear, explicit view. If an opponent urges 
that the moral is and should be self-revealing, our 
reply is that oftentimes the moral message needs the 
same kind of elucidation and exposure that the intel- 
lectual message needs. Many teachers are of course 
incompetent to reveal the one just as they are incom- 
petent to reveal the other, but frequent lapses in the 
interpreter do not cancel the need of interpretation. 
Moreover, allegiance to these ideals that keep society 
unified needs repeated enforcements, and such discus- 
sions the study of fiction frequently invites. In it will 
oftentimes come from a single individual a stalwart 
avowal of some moral principle that will exert upon his 
classmates a splendid influence — an avowal that the 
rightly engendered atmosphere of the English recita- 
tion somehow righteously provokes. These ideas should 
be crisply and frankly met. To loiter with them is more 
pernicious than to neglect them. 



CHAPTER X 

THE TEACHING OF THE DRAMA, WITH PARTICULAR 
REFERENCE TO SHAKESPEARE 

In the approach to the teaching of any selected 
drama the paramount aim is to stimulate interest. 
The teacher must always be a strongly charged elec- 
tric battery. He must also be able to make skillful 
connections that will disturb quiet. This in itself is 
not sufficient; the interest must, of course, be set 
working along intelligent lines and be directed toward 
a wisely predetermined aim. 

Whatever the method of study — be it extensive or 
intensive — most teachers will secure the best results 
by first assigning a rapid reading of the whole play. 
If che play is short, encourage the students to read it 
through at a single sitting. Such an assignment takes 
less time than is currently supposed; Macbeth, for ex- 
ample, many students can complete in two hours. Or 
if the selected drama should chance to be playing in 
your city, the teacher could wisely advise his pupils 
to see the play. This, if substituted for the reading, 
would reveal to the student new dramatic possibilities 
and provide many valuable points for future discus- 
sions. The idea is to get a perspective view of the 
entire action — a conception vitally important for the 
intelligent mastery of the later details. 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 199 

The teacher must say something to generate a lively 
interest, to make the pupils genuinely eager to attack 
the reading. It is deadening to assign the book and 
merely give the laconic demand, " Read this play 
through by Wednesday." Make them, by your teach- 
ing art, want to read it through this afternoon. And 
your enthusiasm and your skill can quicken such a 
desire even in this day of social distractions and 
moving pictures and automobiles. 

Suppose the play is Macbeth, and you want your 
pupils to read it through. You can tell them that here 
is a play that is usually voted by seniors as the most 
popular play of the high-school course. You will in- 
terest them by calling their attention to what Winston 
Churchill, in A Far Country, makes Hugh Paret, re- 
viewing his Harvard experience, say about this great 
classic. He had not read Macbeth until he went to col- 
lege, and the lesson and spirit of the play impressed 
him as he had never been impressed before. It revealed 
with singular power the perils of personal ambition 
freed from control. Hugh Paret was able to apply this 
to his own situation and thus perceive how easily he 
himself might become the victim of an unworthy 
ambition. 

Or a teacher might turn incidentally to Malcolm's 
last speech and read the line that speaks of Macbeth 
and Lady Macbeth as " this dead butcher and his fiend- 
like queen." " I am going to ask you Wednesday," you 
may significantly add, " if you think that comment 



200 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of Malcolm's is a fair characterization of Lady Mac- 
beth. Was she a, fiend? By the way, I wonder if you 
can tell me in a day or two anything about Lady Mac- 
beth's death. There 's still another thing some of 
you may discover in your first reading — Who killed 
Banquo? Some critics think it was — No, I'll not 
anticipate too much." 

You have spent only two minutes in this interest- 
pricking device, but you have disturbed the lethargy 
of your class and gently plunged your rowels into 
their curiosity. 

If you want to make the reading a little more exact- 
ing and mandatory, — some classes demand this and 
others welcome it, — announce that as a means of test- 
ing this first reading you will give them on Wednesday 
a short-answer test. The teacher may tell the class that 
the short-answer test is made up of a series of ques- 
tions which can be answered very briefly — by a single 
word, by two or three words, or, at longest, by a short 
phrase. While the questions are being dictated by the 
teacher, students will be expected to write their an- 
swers rapidly. Immediately at the close of the dicta- 
tion the papers will be quickly exchanged and then 
graded by the pupils on a percentage basis, while 
the class discussion or the teacher's announcement is 
establishing each correct answer. 

The character of the questions may be seen from the 
following list, which is purposely made easy because 
it assumes a single rapid reading of the play: — 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 201 

1. With whom was Duncan at war? 

2. Who tells Duncan of Macbeth's bravery in the recent 
battle? 

3. Who are especially praised for their bravery? 

4. Of whose traitorous action does Ross bring news? 

5. Who is with Macbeth when he meets the witches? 

6. By what title do the witches first address Macbeth? 

7. With what title does Duncan invest Malcolm? 

8. How does Lady Macbeth get news of the weird sisters' 
salutations? 

9. Who is Banquo's son? 

10. After the murder where did Malcolm go? 

11. Who discovers the murder? 

12. Who supplies the humor interest in the play? 

13. How many murderers attack Banquo? 

14. Who is the mother of the witches? 

15. To what country did Macduff go? 

16. What thane is the victim of Macbeth's later murderous 
design? 

17. Who escapes the three murderers? 

18. In what castle did Macbeth finally seek refuge? 

19. What is the manner of Lady Macbeth's death? 

20. Who kills Macbeth? 

As an example of a more difficult test — to be given 
after a second or third reading — I am including a list 
of questions and answers on Antony and Cleopatra: — 

1. In what city is the beginning action laid? Alexandria. 

2. In what building are the first scenes enacted? Cleopa- 
tra's palace. 

3. Who at the beginning is Antony's wife? Fulvia. 

4. What god did Cleopatra and her waiting- women fre- 
quently address? I sis. 

5. What three men are thought of in Philo's phrase, the 
triple pillar of the state? Antony, Lepidus, Octavius 
Casar. 

6. What news did the messenger from Sicyon bring? Ful- 
via 's death. 



202 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

7. What man, does Antony say, — 

Hath given the dare to Caesar, and commands 
The empire of the sea? 

Sextus Pompeius. 

8. To which of his men is Antony most confidential? 
Enobarbus. 

9. To what family did Cleopatra belong? Ptolemy. 

10. In the conversation between the other two members of 
the triumvirate which one is the more lenient in his 
judgment of Antony? Lepidus. 

11. In her talk with Charmian, to what previous love does 
Cleopatra contrast her present love for Antony? Julius 
Coesar. 

12. She also speaks of what other man who was enamored 
of her? Pompey the Great. 

13. What two pirates were associated with Pompey? Mene~ 
crates and Menas. 

14. Of the triumvirs which one did Pompey value most 
highly for soldiership? Antony. 

15. Which one was the strongest advocate of peace? 
Lepidus. 

16. Why, according to Antony, did Fulvia wage her wars 
against Lucius and Caesar? To bring Antony home. 

17. To end the quarrel between Antony and Caesar what 
proposition does Agrippa make? Antony to marry 
Octavia. 

18. Which of the Romans, in sympathy with Cleopatra, 
gives us the most detailed account of her charm and the 
charm of her Egyptian environment? Enobarbus. 

19. Who specifically warned Antony against Caesar's plead- 
ing: "Make space enough between you"? Soothsayer. 

20. Where was Ventidius sent? Parthia (or Syria). 

21. What name did Cleopatra in flattery give to Antony's 
sword? Philippan. 

22. After Antony's departure, what is the first message 
brought to Cleopatra from Rome? Antony's marriage. 

23. What motive does Pompey say is prompting his threat- 
ened attack upon Rome? Ingratitude toward his father. 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 203 

24. Where was the conference between Pompey and the 
triumvirs held? Misenum. 

25. By the terms of the treaty what territory is granted 
Pompey? Sicily and Sardinia. 

26. Who was greatly disturbed by this decision? Menas. 

27. What treacherous design does this man propose? Cut 
the cable and murder the triumvirs. 

28. What dead body is brought on the stage in token of the 
victory in Syria? Pacorus, son of Orodes, the King. 

29. What is the messenger's guess concerning Octavia's 
age? Thirty. 

30. Which two of the Triumvirs later made war on Pompey? 
Casar and Lepidus. 

31. Who was particularly outraged that Antony had made 
Cleopatra absolute queen of Syria, Cyprus, and Lydia? 
Coesar. 

32. Who, according to report, was the father of Csesarion? 
Julius Coesar. 

33. What goddess did Cleopatra impersonate? 7m. 

34. What excuse does Octavius make for deposing Lepidus? 
Cruelty and abuse of authority. 

35. Against what determination of Antony's, in his attack 
on Csesar, did Enobarbus, Canidius, and the soldier 
advise? To fight by sea. 

36. Who was given command of Antony's land forces? 
Canidius. 

37. What was the name of Cleopatra's ship? Antoniad. 

38. Where was the fleet when Cleopatra deserted? Actium. 

39. Who is sent to treat with Csesar? Euphronius, the 
schoolmaster. 

40. What place of residence is Antony's first preference? 
Egypt. 

41. His second? Athens. 

42. What one thing does Cleopatra — according to Eu- 
phronius — specially request that she be allowed tore- 
tain? " Circle of the Ptolemies." 

43. Csesar in refusing Antony's request replies that he will 
grant Cleopatra's wish on what condition? Exile or 
death of Antony. 



204 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

44. Who is sent by Caesar to treat with Cleopatra? 
Thyreits. 

45. To what ignominy does Antony order the messenger to 
be subjected? Whipping. 

46. What challenge does Antony send to Csesar? Personal 
combat. 

47. In his speech bidding them farewell, what effect does 
Antony produce upon his servants? They weep. 

48. Which one of Antony's friends deserts him? Enobar- 
bus. 

49. What command does Antony give on hearing this? 
Treasure be sent. 

50. What discovery — trivial in itself — forebodes to the 
augurers the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra? Swal- 
lows' nests. 

51. To whom does Antony allude when he speaks of the 
Roman boy? Casar. 

52. What was the name of Cleopatra's eunuch? Mardian. 

53. Who, refusing to kill Antony at Antony's command, 
kills himself? Eros. 

54. What false message did Cleopatra send to Antony? 
That she was dead. 

55. What did Antony and Cleopatra each acutely dread, 
if taken to Rome? Exposure in pageants or triumph. 

56. What did Dercetas take to Csesar? Antony's sword. 

57. What did Cleopatra say to Proculeius that she would 
like to have for her son? Egypt. 

58. With what did Cleopatra first try to kill herself? 
Dagger. 

59. Who prevented this? Proculeius. 

60. Who was false to Cleopatra in not affirming the truth 
of her false inventory? Her treasurer, Seleucus. 

61. What fruit did the countryman bring to Cleopatra in 
her monument? Figs. 

62. Who besides Cleopatra died from poisoned asps? Iras 
and Charmian. 

63. By the side of whom does Csesar order Cleopatra 
buried? Antony. 

64. Who makes the closing speech? Cwsar. 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 205 

The methods for Shakespearean study are various 
and they depend for their adoption upon many dif- 
ferent elements, such as the maturity of the class, the 
time that is available, the equipment of the library, 
the annotations of the edition in use, the interest of 
the teacher, and the teacher's skill in developing the 
pupils' acting powers. These, together with other con- 
siderations, will influence the choice of methods — 
especially whether the study shall be intensive or ex- 
tensive. Whatever the decision, there are a number of 
items that fundamentally belong to any method of 
studying the drama, and many more that deserve con- 
sideration in separate cases. The most important, it is 
believed, are to be found in the following enumeration. 1 

i. Visualization. One primary design in the mind of 
every teacher of the drama should be to see that the 
students visualize the action. Whether they conceive 
the events as happening upon an artificial stage within 
a modern theater, or as actually happening where the 
playwright has imaginatively set the scene, — on the 
blasted heath, in Cleopatra's palace, on Gloucester's 
estates, or on the streets of Venice, — may be a de- 
batable point; but the necessity for picturing the ac- 
tion is not debatable. Pupils should be asked such 
questions as will develop their acute sensitiveness to 
the relative stage-position of the actors, their personal 
appearance, the costuming, the sound of the voice, and 

1 Throughout the discussion special familiarity is assumed with 
two plays — Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra; one usually read 
in high school, the other rarely read, but one with which all teachers 
should be familiar. 



206 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

all other items that contribute to definite visualiza- 
tions and throw emphasis upon sense impressions and 
character differentiations. Where the language of the 
text provides the definite color sensation, all of us 
should be sure to grasp it and fit it into our created 
picture. Where Antony's friend Philo speaks contemp- 
tuously of Cleopatra's complexion as her tawny front, 
we should not neglect the item, though we may imag- 
inatively portray it, cleared from Philo's prejudice, as 
a beautiful olive brown — such as might beseem 
Cassiopeia or Prince Memnon's sister. 

Attention to visualization in dramatic study is all 
the more important because many of the pupils enter- 
ing the high school have read very few plays and have 
not acquired the power to externalize the action. The 
dramatic movement is usually more rapid than the 
narrative movement — with which they are most 
familiar — and the mode of expression is usually more 
concise. The playwright forms his dialogue with char- 
acters conceived as definitely placed. We cannot, 
therefore, always follow the words consecutively, but 
must follow them logically. For example, in Act n, 
Scene ii, of Antony and Cleopatra, we read the following : 

Lepidus. Here comes 

The noble Antony. 

Enter Antony and Ventiditjs. 
Enobarbus. And yonder, Caesar. 

Enter Cesar, Meoenas, and Agrippa. 
Antony. If we compose well here, to Parthia: 
Hark, Ventidius. 

Coesar. I do not know, 

Mecaenas; ask Agrippa. 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 207 

The unpracticed reader of drama, not visualizing 
the entrance clearly and accustomed to think of con- 
secutive lines bearing logically upon the lines next 
them, will fail to get the mental picture of Caesar 
walking in with Mecaenas and addressing him with the 
words that on the printed page follow Antony's speech 
but have absolutely no logical connection with it. 
Caesar is simply answering a question that Mecaenas 
is fancifully supposed to have asked before they en- 
tered. Shakespeare's design is to create naturalness — • 
Caesar's remark is a transcript from realism. Visualiz- 
ation here makes the interpretation easy; in most 
cases it not only aids in interpretation, but adds vastly 
to the enjoyment that comes from the perception of the 
sensory images that Shakespeare so lavishly creates 
and distributes. With that power developed within us, 
we can, as we read Antony and Cleopatra, enrich our 
vision with the splendid diversity of color that adorns 
Cleopatra and her attendants. We can see in the back- 
ground all the tapestried magnificence of her palace 
walls; our ears are attuned to the melody of her cap- 
tivating voice; and our sense of fragrance is gratified 
by the rare Oriental perfumes that her presence 
wafts. 

A similar demand for visualizing the situation is 
seen in Macbeth, Act i, scene iv, lines 54 ff . Macbeth 
speaking aside closes his speech by saying, — 

Yet let that be 
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. 



208 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The unpracticed reader may fail to imagine Duncan 
and Banquo eagerly engaged in conversation while 
Macbeth is speaking. Therefore they may try to 
connect this speech logically with the one of Duncan's 
which follows, — 

True, worthy Banquo: he is full so valiant. 
And in his commendations I am fed. 

That this is in reply to an imagined remark to Ban- 
quo's comment on Macbeth's bravery many students 
do not at once perceive. 

2. Vocabulary and allusions. Closely connected with 
the demand that the reader must visualize the scene 
is the demand that Shakespeare's vocabulary and allu- 
sions require special attention. Visualization is often 
the key that unlocks the meaning of a passage, for it 
must be constantly borne in mind that Shakespeare 
thinks in images. Understanding the allusion the 
reader does not find the words difficult. Macbeth, for 
example, says, when hedged about by his attacking 
enemies, — 

They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, 
But, bear-like, I must fight the course. 

To understand this, the young reader must know of the 
ancient practice of bear-baiting — the bear tied to a 
stake with a pack of dogs biting him. Shakespeare, 
writing this, saw the image; the pupil, reading it inter- 
pretatively, must likewise see it. 

We need to know, furthermore, that in many cases 
the words that Shakespeare used carried a different 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 209 

connotation, and to interpret his use of presently, still, 
doubt, practice, invent, exhibition, and hundreds of 
others, we must learn what that connotation was in 
Elizabethan English. In the same way, our students 
must know that many allusions which were plain to all 
in Shakespeare's audience have lost their easy applica- 
tion and in some cases defy the ripest scholarship. If 
search in our notes clears up the allusion, we are re- 
paid; but as young people may not share our keen 
interest in the search, we should not make our study 
too minute — certainly not so minute as to endanger 
a loss of the beauty and the significance of the whole 
design. On the other hand, we should not be afraid of 
the intellectual approach. Upon the difficult passages 
we may make a wise but not a tedious pause. The 
maturity of our class and the immediate motive in 
mind will dictate the minuteness of the study. • - 

3. Poetic appeal. We should be false to our concep- 
tion of teaching did we not try to arouse in our pupils 
a continually growing appreciation and reverence for 
the power of poetry. Deliberate pause and a teaching 
instinct are here essential. While a goodly portion of 
poetic beauty may be self -perceived by the gifted few, 
a majority of our pupils need to have their attention 
directed to the passages of marked excellence. The 
morrow's assignment may, among other things, be the 
selection of the most poetical passage in Act iv. When 
the class assembles, the variously selected passages may 
be read and the special poetical quality commented 



210 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

upon. Scores upon scores of passages arrest us in 
Shakespeare; in Antony and Cleopatra we linger appre- 
ciatively upon this : — 

Sometime we see a cloud that's dragonish; 

A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, 

A tower'd citadel, a pendent rock, 

A forked mountain, or blue promontory 

With trees upon't, that nod unto the world, 

And mock our eyes with air; thou hast seen these signs; 

They are black vesper's pageants. 



That which is now a horse, even with a thought 
The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct, 
As water is in water. 

What a splendid image to bring out the superficial 
existence of human life, its inevitable transiency, the 
complete final absorption that eliminates all individu- 
ality! Yet without a pause upon the passage the un- 
trained pupils might not only fail to see that Antony is 
foreshadowing his own contemplated death, but they 
would, in many cases, fail to see the detailed beauty 
of the pictured vision. And this passage is but one 
among hundreds that might be successfully used to 
develop in the pupil the appreciation of poetical effects. 

4. Memory assignment and dramatic presentation. 
To incite the pupil to retain such pictures as these and 
to enforce the emphasis upon certain significant char- 
acterizations or ethical truths, the teacher should de- 
mand a good deal of memory work in connection with 
this study of the drama. This practice offers the stu- 
dent excellent mental drill, unconsciously develops 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 211 

poetic taste, and at the same time increases his work- 
ing vocabulary and secures the retention of poetical 
imagery. Its most important function is the help it 
gives the student by equipping him with selected 
norms which will direct toward a more accurate judg- 
ment of things aesthetic and things spiritual. As Mat- 
thew Arnold suggests, these memorized selections may 
be happily used in measuring the worth of other poetry. 
Nor should the assignment be limited to verse form; 
wisely selected prose passages thoroughly memorized 
may secure a ready response in the learner's style. The 
help which memory work offers the spirit is likewise 
apparent. It gives the student standards of moral and 
social judgment. The course should direct toward the 
development of character. Frequently this can be 
more strikingly effected in our dramatic study by 
selecting certain scenes and having them acted in the 
presence of the class or school. 

5. Humor in drama. In previous generations teach- 
ers have been too prone to ignore the humor in litera- 
ture. As humor was something Shakespeare keenly 
perceived, it is something readers should keenly re- 
perceive. His habit of introducing it into his sternest 
tragedies should be dwelt upon and its effect carefully 
noted. The Porter's scene in Macbeth is something to 
linger over and enjoy. Lancelot Gobbo will afford 
amusement. If the pupils are reading The Tempest, 
scarcely anything can be better than to get three of 
the boys to act out the drunken scene of Stephano, 



212 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Trinculo, and Caliban. Until pointed out by the 
teacher few pupils realize the humor of the Stephano- 
Caliban head-by-foot arrangement under the gabar- 
dine. Its dramatic presentation before the class is an 
uproarious farce that cheers everybody. 

6. Plot structure. Discussions on the plot are some- 
times so elaborate that they often merely darken 
counsel. In the earlier years of the high school it is far 
better to employ no highly technical phrases — 
phrases that the dramatic critics fittingly employ in 
their discussions addressed to the more mature, but 
which are too detailed for elementary study. Plot, 
in these earlier years, should be thought of merely as 
story, and enough plot material for the recitation is 
supplied by emphasizing the continuous course of the 
story and by bringing into prominence the ways in 
which the various threads cross and recross and finally 
complete the playwright's preconceived design. In 
the most advanced classes in the high school the dis- 
cussion may involve details more intricate, and may, 
if the teacher thinks it wise, embrace a consideration 
of the five divisions that Freytag names: (1) Introduc- 
tion; (2) Rising action; (3) Turning-point (Climax); 
(4) Falling action; (5) Catastrophe. 1 

1 These terms are particularly applicable to tragedy. Those in- 
terested in seeing how they may be practically applied in the analy- 
sis of Antony and Cleopatra may be helped by the following: — 

A. Rising Action. Act i, Sc. i — Act in, Sc. v. 

1. Introductory exposition. Act I, Sc. i, 11. 1-13. 

2. Exciting force. Act I, Sc. i, 1. 14 — Act I, Sc. iii. 

3. Working-out. Act I, Sc. iv, 1. 1 — Act in, Sc. iv. 

4. Turning-point. Act in, Sc. iv. 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 213 

(1) The word introduction is almost self-revealing. 
The audience is told enough about the existing condi- 
tions that even the slower minds may understand the 
logical sequence of the succeeding events. Where the 
situation is not clearly presented, the audience finds 
it difficult to see the full significance of the events. It 
is precisely for this reason that many of Browning's 
dramas and dramatic monologues are baffling. Brown- 
ing habitually starts out in medias res and we have to 
make so many inferences and hold such a multitude of 
incidents in solution that the mind soon commences to 
tire and so loses its receptive power. Shakespeare, on 
the other hand, is conventional in his introduction. 
He takes the most exacting pains that each auditor — 
even the dullest apprentice — shall understand the 
existing background, the opening situation, and the 
relationship of the various characters. 

In Macbeth, the witches in their weird way suggest 
a diabolical design upon Macbeth and leave the stage 
to allow the bleeding sergeant and Ross to report to 
King Duncan — really to the audience — what Mac- 
beth has been bravely doing for the realm. With these 
two facts before us — the witches' evil intent and the 
knowledge of Macbeth's loyal bravery on behalf of his 
king — we are ready for the rising action to begin. 

B. Falling Action. 

1. Tragic force. Act in, Sc. v — End. 

2. Working-out. Act in, Sc. vii — Act iv, Sc. vii. 

8. Final suspense. Act iv, Sc. vii — ■ Act iv, Sc. xiv, 1. 101. • 
4. Catastrophe. Act iv, Sc. xiv, 1. 101 — End of play. 



214 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

In Antony and Cleopatra, the " dotage " and en- 
slavement of Antony is first brought out analytically 
in the speech of Philo to Demetrius, followed by an 
objective display of this uxorious surrender to the 
gypsy's charm. Each scene in the first act reinforces 
this surrender by further display and analytical com- 
ment; but in the mean time messengers have come from 
Rome with news that disturbs the luxurious and volup- 
tuous repose which Antony would so willingly prolong. 

{2) Rising action. Every drama represents some sort 
of conflict. It may be an individual struggling with 
fate or environment, the evil nature struggling with 
the good, apathy in conflict with conceived duty, or 
other contesting abstractions. But on the modern stage 
the struggle is, as a rule, more concretely represented. 
Macbeth is seen in conflict with himself, but at once 
this introspective struggle yields to his conflict with 
Lady Macbeth. When he has yielded to this he later 
develops his antagonism to Banquo, Fleance, Mal- 
colm, and other opponents, until the catastrophe is 
reached in his fatal struggle with Macduff. The place 
where this germ of struggle asserts its initial activity, 
disturbing ever so slightly the repose of the opening 
situation, is the beginning of the rising action. The 
disturbing agency is the exciting force; the combina- 
tion of the action up to the turning-point composes, 
along with the introduction, the line of complication — 
the entanglement. In Antony and Cleopatra, the ex- 
citing force that pricks from restful Alexandrian in- 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 215 

dulgence is the message from Rome, followed closely 
by the message from Sicyon announcing the death of 
Fulvia, Antony's wife, and urging Antony's immediate 
presence in Rome. 

The rising action continues to complicate and en- 
tangle. Conflicting forces assert themselves. Char- 
acters that are to dominate the latter half of the play 
are displayed in their growing power. In Macbeth, 
Banquo, Fleance, Malcolm, Macduff are displayed in 
their potential strength and give hints to the reader of 
Macbeth's ultimate downfall. In Antony and Cleo- 
patra, the attitude of Pompey and Octavius Csesar 
begin to show the possibilities of resistance, and — 
particularly in the case of Csesar — grow more menac- 
ing as the rising action continues. But this opposition 
is not yet controlling; the dominating character of the 
first part maintains his strength. 

(3) Turning-point. In Macbeth, as the action of the 
drama continues, it finally reaches a point where the 
character that dominates the play is at the height of 
a crucial struggle; the two forces have met in significant 
struggle; the conflict is momentarily seen in even bal- 
ance; finally the first force wavers and the second 
secures the advantage. This does not mean that the 
hero immediately fails; he may go on and win other 
successes, but his unquestioned control is lost and he 
has started down toward the catastrophe that awaits 
him at the foot of the hill. Macbeth from the start is 
successful; he wins one position after another, is made 



216 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

king and asserts his absolute sway. Each action he 
undertakes is apparently brought to a successful issue 
as each one of his enemies is brought low. The climax 
comes when his exploit against Banquo is menacingly 
fringed with failure — the significant escape of Fleance. 
From this time on, while he meets with some success, 
the trend of his power is continuously downward and 
soon he begins to " wish the estate o' th' world were 
all undone." 

In Antony and Cleopatra, Antony's position in the 
rising action, while assured, is never so unquestionably 
assured as was Macbeth's. He has, however, as a 
triumvir, a strong position in the world; he has as his 
ally the great Cleopatra, with her transcendent power 
and the inherited wealth that accompanies the " circle 
of the Ptolemies." On the other hand, we see ranged 
against Antony the iron will and the adroit military 
genius of Octavius. The issue is seen when the two 
forces meet in naval battle at Actium. Cleopatra 
weakly flies and Antony more weakly follows. His 
career, like Macbeth's, reaches its turning-point and 
sadly fails. He feels that he is so lated in the world 
that he has lost his way forever. 

(4) Falling action. We have said that the prick that 
disturbs the opening repose and starts the rising action 
is called the exciting force. The push that starts the 
falling action we name the tragic force, and its continu- 
ance the working-out. Macbeth, in the midst of the 
banquet scene, is told of the escape of Fleance. He is 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 217 

immediately unnerved, and except for Lady Macbeth 
might have completely revealed his crime against 
Banquo and against Duncan. As it is, suspicion, al- 
ready aroused, grows stronger against him. He meets 
with further opposition from the witches and from 
Malcolm and Macduff and is thus hurried to his doom. 
In Antony and Cleopatra, the flight from Actium has 
brought further dangers. Caesar has pursued the re- 
treating ships to Alexandria, and his presence supplies 
the exciting force. Antony's shame at his cowardly 
flight prompts him to regather his forces and again 
meet Caesar in battle. This adds, as do Macbeth's 
successes before the catastrophe, to the final suspense. 

(5) Catastrophe. The catastrophe comes with the 
death of the hero. It is usually deepened and intensi- 
fied by the death — either before or later — of other 
characters in the play, especially of those with whom 
the main character is most closely associated. The 
suicide of Lady Macbeth deepens the tragedy of 
Macbeth's death; Cleopatra's suicide deepens, with 
like intensity, the self-inflicted death of Antony. The 
play fittingly closes in " great solemnity." 

7. Character study. Of all the various appeals in 
drama perhaps the one which makes the deepest im- 
pression upon young people, comes from observing the 
personalities of those who are concerned in the plot — 
those who act and those who are acted upon. While 
we shall not in our teaching wish completely to isolate 
the study of character from the study of plot, we shall 



218 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

nevertheless wish many times to direct such emphasis 
upon character as will bring it prominently into the 
foreground of our thinking. Perhaps we shall wish 
first to remind our pupils of the analysis which we 
made in our study of prose fiction. There we found that 
the character of a person is portrayed in four distinct 
ways: — 

1. By what the person says or fails to say. 

2. By what the person does or fails to do. 

3. By what is said about the person. 

4. By what the person causes others to do. 

These four methods are equally applicable to the 
study of character as portrayed in drama. There is 
only one marked difference here between the privileges 
of the novelist and the dramatist. In portraying char- 
acter by the second method, the novelist can speak 
in his own person: in his critical comments he may 
direct special attention to such points as he may wish 
the reader to note; he may point out the specific 
changes wrought by time and experience. The drama- 
tist, on the other hand, usually keeps himself wholly 
in the background; he does not perform the part of 
the docent; he portrays his characters only by the 
words and actions of those who are brought upon the 
stage. l 

But this imposed limitation is not so narrowly re- 
strictive as the bare contrast might at first suggest. 

1 The only exception to this is seen in the long and elaborate stage 
directions sometimes seen in the works of the more recent writers, 
notably Bernard Shaw. 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 219 

The very removal of the interpreting third person may 
make the scene and action more vivid; for drama, by 
the very directness of its nature, stimulates the reader 
to more intense imaginative activity. And if, instead 
of reading a drama, we are watching the actors upon 
the stage, we may see, by means of their costumes, 
gestures, modulation, and interplay, a more clean-cut 
delineation of character than any novelist — however 
skilled in analysis — could possibly make. It is thus 
seen that the bare assertion that the novelist has one 
privilege which is denied the dramatist is not to imply 
greater character-portraying power resting with the 
former; the advantages possessed by the dramatist in 
the particular lines which we have designated more 
than counteract such a limitation. 

As we make our application of the four methods of 
character portrayed to the play in hand we may find 
it practical to take any single character — Macbeth, 
Antony, Julius Caesar, Banquo, Brutus, Ophelia, or 
Shylock, for example — and have the pupils select 
the passages that bear directly upon these separate 
methods. Or one group in the class might confine its 
study to one of these methods while three other groups 
would respectively take the three other methods, the 
analysis centering upon a single character. 

We shall not, of course, wish to confine our study 
to these four methods, for as we proceed in our exam- 
ination we shall discover other angles of approach. 
We must never allow the study to be too minute or too 



220 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

prolonged or too technical; we shall secure better re- 
sults by confining ourselves pretty closely to the more 
obvious and the more salient points. 

Teachers will very naturally wish to dwell upon the 
effects which one character makes upon another. As 
nothing is more interesting than this in life, so nothing 
is more interesting than this in drama. How marked 
is the influence which Lady Macbeth exerts upon her 
husband! Equally compelling and equally tragic is the 
influence which Cleopatra exerts upon Antony. Each 
decisive situation in their respective associations allows 
the student opportunity for a brief analysis of the 
nature and application of this feminine force. And this 
is only one of a multitude of examples that show the 
reaction of character upon character. 

The student will be further interested in noting how 
the dramatist enhances his effects by the use of char- 
acter contrast. In The Merchant of Venice, for example, 
the generosity of Antonio is the more strongly accen- 
tuated because it is seen in opposing juxtaposition 
with Shylock's avarice. In Hamlet the vacillation of 
the hero is the more marked because it is set off by 
the clear-cut decision of Fortinbras. In Julius Casar 
Brutus's candor is all the more apparent because it 
falls before the cunning of Mark Antony. In all these 
cases — and in many more which the student will dis- 
cover for himself — each of the dominant traits is 
more emphatically portrayed because it is thus 
brought into immediate touch with its contrasting type. 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 221 

Equally interesting, but less rarely used as a device, 
is what Dr. Moulton calls the character foil. As defined 
by him the character foil is not the same as character 
contrast. Portia and Narissa are character foils; they 
are moulded in the same shaped form, but in Portia 
the prevailing traits are more obvious and more com- 
manding. Pupils, once they see these dual examples, 
will be interested in searching for others — individuals 
who thus set each other off by contrast in degree rather 
than by contrast in kind. 

There is one marked example in Hamlet where an 
artistic effect is secured by bringing together two char- 
acters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and making 
them identical. They are neither character contrasts 
nor character foils. They bend their pregnant knees 
in perfect harmony and, completely undifferentiated, 
act their sycophantic parts. Rosencrantz and Guild- 
enstern; Guildenstern and Rosencrantz — the fact that 
the order is wholly immaterial helps to make their 
ready surrender of Hamlet's friendship the more 
despicable. 

A line of study which we may interestingly pursue 
in our study of fiction may be found equally profitable 
in the study of drama — the study of the development 
of character. In the first part of Julius Casar Antony 
is not felt to possess any special points of strength. 
He is seen in the shadow of Brutus. But as the play 
progresses his adroit and practical power develops and 
soon brings him into a position of unquestioned com- 



222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

mand and paramount strength. As his life is further 
portrayed in Antony and Cleopatra, however, we see 
that the trend is toward decadence. Under the be- 
guiling influence of Egypt's queen his patriotism 
falters and every fiber of his character gives way. 
Macbeth's character shows the same disintegrating 
trend, and readers become interested in noting each 
declining stage. The pupil will learn to be equally 
watchful for those characters which change for the 
better and those which change for the worse. 

The directed attention upon the foregoing points 
in character study should tend to give the student a 
clearer intellectual conception of each person in the 
drama. Seeing the characters in association with each 
other and noting the produced effects, the student 
will see each one brought into clear relief and into rela- 
tive strength. There should accompany this an equally 
clear conception of the ethical significance of those 
faults that invoke failure. The objective portrayal of 
tragic results almost inevitably weaves its subtle im- 
pression into the character of the young reader. And 
this is the best result of the study of drama in the 
schools. 

No teacher will wish, in this study of drama, to go 
so minutely into the analysis of plot or character as 
to detract from the aesthetic enjoyment of the selected 
play. The broad outlines of story and the general 
significance of sequent action, artistically rounding 



THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE 223 

toward the close, are the important considerations to 
bring into view. Along with this will come the gen- 
eral conception and the general significance of the 
characters. The analysis of technique is of value only 
when it makes the student more appreciative of the 
beauty of the play and more sensitive to the import 
of the ethical theme. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY 

As the types of essays which we admit into our 
English course represent mature thinking and are 
addressed to very mature minds, we shall need to 
approach our task of essay-teaching with unusual care 
and unusual preparation. Many of us will be helped 
in this approach by reminding ourselves that the 
essay form was, with most of us, the last of the lit- 
erary forms to win our own interest and appreciation. 
Our taste for story is innate, melody and rhyme de- 
light us in our juvenile years, we are early won by the 
concreteness of the drama; but a liking for the essay 
has, in most cases, to be carefully developed. This 
is particularly true if a writer deals principally with 
abstract subjects. 

We can, however, convince our pupils that the essay 
is capable of very simple treatment and is not neces- 
sarily the formidable object which they, in their youth- 
ful bias, have falsely imagined. A brief analysis will 
show them that when they themselves have written 
an account of how a certain game is played, or what 
their feelings are under certain specific conditions, they 
have adopted the simpler form of the expository essay. 
They have merely spoken out of their experience and 



THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY 225 

knowledge. And this, the pupils will learn, is the func- 
tion of the essayist; he sets forth in some sort of order 
the results of his thinking and knowing and feeling. 
The topics thus discussed and the forms of the discus- 
sion vary so widely that it is difficult to lay down any 
specific method which the teacher may adopt that 
invariably makes the easiest and deftest introduction 
to the study of the essay. There are, however, certain 
suggestions that may afford general assistance. 

i. Provide an interesting approach. The first essen- 
tial demand is to arouse an interest in the topic which 
the essayist is to discuss. If we are planning, for 
example, to take up the study of Carlyle's Essay on 
Burns with our senior classes, we shall find it profitable 
to precede this study with a reading of Burns's selected 
powers and with the narration — by teacher or pupil 
— of many interesting facts about Burns and his peas- 
ant life in Scotland. On taking up this essay on Burns, 
the pupils will then be interested in knowing that 
Carlyle was a Scotchman, that his father was a stone 
mason, and that the similarity in the early environment 
of the two authors thus makes it natural for Carlyle 
to understand Burns's struggles and triumphs and 
write intelligently and sympathetically about them. 
Again, interest in a particular essay may sometimes 
be opportunely established by connecting it with some 
current school activity. Your senior class has held an 
entertainment and wishes to spend its newly acquired 
funds in the purchase of a set of books for the school 



226 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

library. While interest in books is rife, select that time 
for the reading of Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies, or some 
essay that exalts the value of reading and the in- 
spirational power of books. Whatever the essay we 
are studying, then, the method of approach will be 
designed to establish a connection with the preceding 
task or the present moment and to arouse a keen in- 
terest in the new assignment. 

2. Our second consideration questions the char- 
acter of the first reading assignment. Shall we ask the 
pupils to read the essay through in order that they 
may get a general view of the whole, or shall we first 
take it up in sections? If the essay is short and easy to 
comprehend, most teachers will find it desirable to 
have the pupils read the essay entire before taking it 
up for more careful study. If, however, the essay is 
too long, too obscure in thought, or too involved in 
phrasing, this general view may be given by the 
teacher or by some specially competent pupil. Again, 
if the essay is of undue length or if it is easily divisi- 
ble into distinct parts, — as is true of Carlyle's Essay 
on Burns and Emerson's American Scholar, — these 
parts may be serially taken up and their connection 
with the whole and with each other later established. 

3. Studying the structure and making an outline. 
The study of certain selected essays may be justified 
because of the hints they give the student along the 
lines of structure. One of the best of these, as ex- 
perienced teachers will testify, is Palmer's Self-Cultiva- 



THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY <m 

tion in English. It is easy to show from a study of this 
little masterpiece how carefully the author precon- 
ceived his whole design and what pains he took in 
executing the design. In our study of this particular 
essay, we not only find it easy to differentiate the three 
parts, — introduction, body, and conclusion, — but 
we can likewise show the student the four very defi- 
nite divisions of the body of the essay. Furthermore, 
the student will be interested in noting the careful 
connecting of these parts into a cohesive whole by 
means of summarizing and transitional paragraphs 
and by the author's skillful use of connective phrases. 
The perception of the use of these devices by a master 
craftsman will afford valuable hints to the young ap- 
prentice when he comes to the task of writing his own 
essay. But the emphasis upon these structural details 
must never be allowed to lessen the saliency of the mes- 
sage. Substance is always more important than form. 
In the midst of this structural study of a particular 
essay it is usually desirable to have each pupil make 
some sort of outline. If the author has been very care- 
ful in formulating his plan for the whole, as Burke is in 
his Conciliation Speech and as Palmer is in his Self- 
Cultivation in English, it is desirable to discover the 
few main headings and properly place the subordinate 
parts under these. If the structure is less formal, as 
in most of Lamb's essays, the listing of topics in their 
order, without much regard to their subordination, is 
more satisfactory. 



228 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Many teachers find it valuable to provide cards — 
the size of postal-cards or smaller — on which the 
pupil carefully notes the topics which the essayist dis- 
cusses in the portion assigned for study. At the be- 
ginning of the hour these cards are placed on the 
teacher's desk. The recitation may then be conducted 
in either of two ways. The teacher may follow care- 
fully his own prepared outline and take up the topics 
in the same sequence which the author has chosen; or 
the teacher may simply call upon the pupil to discuss 
one of the topics in the reading which interested the 
pupil most. In either case a large element of value in 
the recitation will be the informal class discussion in 
which each member freely joins. 

To direct the pupil's attention to the close examina- 
tion of structure, we may sometimes find it useful to 
ask such specific questions as these: — 

1. What evidence can you adduce that the author had or 
had not a preconceived design of the whole before he 
commenced to write? 

2. Does the essayist seem to you too conscious of his 
skeleton plan? How does this manifest itself? 

3. Is the introduction too obviously an introduction and 
the conclusion too obviously a conclusion? 

4. Suggest some other introduction and explain why your 
!. suggested introduction would be better or worse. 

5. Do the several divisions naturally and logically de- 
velop the main thesis of the essay? 

6. Granted the informal tone of the essay, would you 
characterize the aimlessness as pardonable, unpardon- 
able, effective, or charming ? Why? 

7. Are there any portions that you would discard because 



THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY 229 

they are entirely irrelevant? How might the author 
justify their retention? 

8. Are there portions of the essay that you would mark as 
digressions? Do they add to or detract from the charm 
of the whole? Explain. 

9. Can you suggest an arrangement that would be more 
effective? 

10. Do you think of any important detail that the author 
has omitted in the discussion? 

11. Do you think any of his points have been dispropor- 
tionately elaborated? What reasons can you assign for 
your answer? 

12. Point to certain connective phrases that are obviously 
used to secure coherence. Do these seem artificial? 

13. Point out any transitional paragraphs that the essay 
contains. Of what value are these? 

14. Does the author do any summarizing in the midst of 
his theme-development? Is this necessary or desirable? 

15. Are the points of the essay summarized at the end? 
If they are, does it add to the effectiveness of the 
essay? If they are not, does it destroy the effective- 
ness? 

16. Do you find it easy to phrase the author's main thesis 
in a single sentence? In two or three sentences? 

4. Studying the essayist's style. We shall not have 
gone far in our reading of the selected essay before we 
shall begin to notice the author's style — his individual 
way of expressing himself. We may find that his sen- 
tences are very long and hard to unravel, and we say it 
is involved. We note that he uses many balanced sen- 
tences and thus betrays an evident striving for effect, 
and we say it is artificial. We note that he pays a great 
deal of attention to securing an easy flow of his syl- 
lables, and we say it is lirrvpid; or he pays no attention 



230 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

to this, — is intent merely in getting his thought forci- 
bly expressed, — and we say it is rugged. 

There is a host of other adjectives — many of them 
synonyms — that we can apply to express our various 
perceptions of style-quality — archaic, quaint, fastidi- 
ous, animated, picturesque, pure, clear, chaste, classic, 
lucid, pellucid, dramatic, graphic, grotesque, crude, col- 
loquial, tedious, cacophonous, academic, monotonous, 
incoherent, intricate, disjointed, elliptical, elegant, 
euphuistic, florid, precious, grandiose, grandiloquent, 
ornate, pompous, bombastic, ponderous, studied, melodi- 
ous, resonant, orotund, harmonious, euphonious, rhyth- 
mic, laconic, sententious, compact, epigrammatic, crisp, 
pithy, terse, paradoxical, vigorous, prolix, verbose, 
diffuse. 

The essayist's vocabulary may variously impress us 
as being thoroughly adequate, in perfect harmony 
with his theme, as too colloquial, too technical, too 
erudite, too heavily Latinized, bare and scant, or over- 
luxurious. His use of figures and images — or the 
absence of these adornments — will be incidentally 
noted and judgment passed concerning the effective 
use of such common devices as simile, metaphor, an- 
tithesis, climax, and suspense. His sentence structure 
will fall under immediate scrutiny and the young critic 
will note the author's tendency to use long or short, 
loose or periodic, simple or complex, sentences. A par- 
ticular examination will be made of his skill or lack of 
skill in keeping his ideas in proper coordination and 



THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY 231 

subordination, and whether, throughout his writings, 
the author has sufficiently varied his sentence struc- 
ture. Students trained in the criticism of their own 
composition work will likewise be apt to question the 
unity, coherence, and emphasis in the whole essay, in 
the paragraph, and in the separate sentences; but upon 
these or other mechanical matters comparatively 
slight stress will fall. At no time should attention upon 
any of these externals obscure the central aim of the 
writer — his appeal to thought and his appeal to emo- 
tion. It would be only the most unscientific teaching 
technique that would carry analysis to the point where 
it would cloud the thought or lessen the emotional 
charm. 

To direct special attention to points in style, ques- 
tions similar to the following may profitably be asked 
while a particular essay is being studied: — 

1. Perfect style has sometimes been compared to perfect 
taste in dress — it creates the atmosphere of refine- 
ment but centers no attention upon itself. Does this 
fitly apply to the style of this essay? 

2. Can you point to passages that do center attention upon 
themselves? (Cf . closing paragraph of Essay on Burns.) 
Do you conclude that the splendor of the style there- 
fore mars? 

3. The four generally accepted qualities of style are 
purity, force, clearness, and beauty. Can you find pas- 
sages in the Essay on Burns that illustrate each? Which 
quality is most evident? 

4. Style may be thought of as possessing certain inherent 
qualities such as purity, force, clearness, and beauty, and 
at the same time be thought of as producing certain 



232 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

effects upon the reader — it charms, it mystifies, it stim- 
ulates thought, it arouses emotion, it lulls. Mention some 
of the effects produced by the essay we are studying. 

5. Does the author's style harmonize closely with his 
theme? Cite examples in proof. 

6. Is the style consistent throughout? Does this mean 
that it is the same throughout? Explain by allusion to 
certain passages. 

7. Does the style impress you as having been imitated? 
What author may have influenced the essayist? What 
passages suggest this? 

8. Does imitation seem to you to be a virtue or a defect? 
May it sometimes be one and sometimes the other? 

9. Does the author impress you by his visualizing powers? 
Does he do this by his figures of speech or by happily 
chosen adjectives, nouns, and verbs? 

10. Does his clear thinking produce clear writing? Is this 
always true? 

11. Is the author's style marred for you by his erudition? 

12. Does the style impress you as academic? Illustrate. 

5. The essayist's personality. If we are pleased with 
the author's style and art, and fall easily under the 
domination of his charm, we shall begin to wonder 
more about his personality — how he lived, how he 
influenced others, his reactions upon the world and the 
world's reaction upon him. After reading several of 
the personal essays of Lamb, Addison, Irving, Holmes, 
Crothers, Benson, and Chesterton, we can make a 
pretty fair guess regarding their individual interests, 
the range of their sympathies, and the characteristics 
that distinguish them as men among men. It is a dis- 
play of the vital and most interesting theme in life — 
personality; and on this the student will early be en- 



THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY 233 

couraged to linger. For further knowledge of the man 
we shall naturally want to go to biography and letters, 
and learn through these more about his associations, 
the judgment his contemporaries passed upon him, his 
personal struggles, and his personal triumphs. 

Again, as suggesting more concretely how the stu- 
dent's attention may be directed to the author's per- 
sonality, we may sometimes wish to ask certain def- 
inite questions: 1 

1. Are you more impressed by the author's powers of deep 
thinking or his powers of deep feeling? 

2. Would you judge him to be a man of deep affection? 

3. Is there any evidence of his attitude toward children? 

4. Do you think he is largely controlled by a single idea or 
does he show evidence of breadth? 

5. Is he a man of dominating will? 

6. Are you impressed with his sense of fairness, or might 
he be capable of duplicity? 

7. What evidence have you of the author's sincerity? 

8. Is he apparently more influenced by men, or books, or 
nature? 

9. What would you guess concerning his environment as 
he wrote? ; Do you think of him as being especially sus- 
ceptible to the influence of environment? 

10. Do you think of him as being absorbed in the events of 
the future or of the past? 

11. Is there any revelation of collegiate or academic train- 
ing? 

12. Is the writer's attitude toward his readers sympathetic, 
antagonistic, or indifferent? 

13. Do you imagine that he would make a good business 
man? 

1 For other questions that may offer further suggestions the reader 
is referred to the chapter on The Teaching of Prose Fiction. 



234 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

14. Does his use of satire and sarcasm betray a bitter ele- 
ment in his nature? 

15. Does the writer seem to you too dogmatic? 

16. What is your guess concerning the keenness of his sense 
of humor? Support your opinion by specific instances. 

17. Do you think of him as a man sensitive to delicate 
aesthetic appeals? 

18. Can you imagine him writing poetry, or composing 
music, or playing chess, or discussing stock quotations 
intelligently? 

19. Are there any evidences of stoicism? 

20. What sort of society would he naturally seek? 

21. What type of discussion would he naturally choose? 

22. Do you think of him as a man who has suffered great 
privation? 

23. What are the most obvious personal traits that his writ- 
ing reveals? 

24. What virtues does he apparently lack? 

25. Does he reveal any evidence of marked political or 
religious bias? 

26. Is he one whom you would select for a companion on 
a Sunday afternoon walk? 

27. Can you imagine how he would act in a small company 
assembled around a grate fire on a winter's evening? 

6. The essay as a stimulus to thought. In conclud- 
ing this discussion on the essay, we may add one further 
word of warning and emphasis. While style and struc- 
ture and the author's personality may all be listed as 
appropriate items in our study of the essay, the really 
important considerations are the thought stimulus 
and the emotional stimulus which the writer provokes. 
Even in the familiar matters of the day, most of us 
need the docent — a man of keener insight or broader 
knowledge who can point out principles, truths, and 



THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY 235 

analogies which our duller senses do not grasp. Of 
even more use in certain circumstances, however, is 
the essayist who can lead us into new regions of thought 
and knowledge and emotion. Both of these functions 
— the revelation of truth in things familiar and the 
revelation of truth in things unfamiliar — it is the 
privilege of the essayist to impart and the opportunity 
of the reader to accept. How much the world owes to 
men whose knowledge and insight and humor have 
made these revelations, — Emerson, Carlyle, Ruskin, 
Arnold, Stevenson, Lamb, Macaulay, Darwin, Hux- 
ley, Thoreau, — to mention only a few of the older 
masters. 

These essayists were, for the most part, seriously 
intent on the development of an ethical truth. They 
believed that the acceptance of their ideas would urge 
the world to aspire to nobler living, and their efforts 
were directed to the elucidation of their ethical 
thought and a sincere entreaty for their adoption in 
practice. Many of the essays of Arnold and Carlyle 
and Emerson make strong appeal along these lines, 
and their utterances invite the young people to most 
profitable discussion. The high-school teacher, how- 
ever, will dwell only upon the simpler truths which 
the authors emphasize; he will remember that sub- 
tlety and casuistry have no place in high-school dis- 
cussions. 

But introduction to these is not enough. We should, 
at the same time that we are reading these older essays, 



236 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

draw the attention of our students to the contribution 
that science is currently offering, to the illuminating 
editorials and magazine articles constantly being writ- 
ten on national and international affairs, and to the 
consequent obligation that this new knowledge imposes 
upon us in the way of a more intelligent citizenship. 

The student will be interested, moreover, in cul- 
tivating at the same time acquaintance with still an- 
other type of essayists — essayists who are working 
with an entirely different conception and who are very 
little interested in the dissemination of mere knowl- 
edge or in arousing deeper ethical thinking. The appeal 
is to the sense of humor and wit and playful emotions. 
Sydney Smith and Charles Lamb and Addison did this 
in the older days; Crothers, Van Dyke, and Benson, 
and writers in the " Contributors' Club " of the At- 
lantic Monthly, are doing it now. They delight us by 
their happy turns of phrase, their clever allusions, and 
their power of sympathetic and whimsical appeal. I 
turn, for illustration of this, to my copy of Elia and 
re-read his Chapter on Ears : — 

I have no ear, — 

Mistake me not, reader, — nor imagine that I am by na- 
ture destitute of those exterior twin appendages, hanging or- 
naments, and (architecturally speaking) handsome volutes 
to the human capital. Better my mother had never borne 
me, — I am, I think, rather delicately than copiously pro- 
vided with those conduits; and I feel no disposition to envy 
the mule for his plenty, or the mole for her exactness, in those 
ingenious labyrinthine inlets — those indispensable side 
intelligencers. 



THE TEACHING OF THE ESSAY 237 

And then, after rambling on for another paragraph 
in the same playful vein, he admits rather reluctantly, 
you remember, that he has no ear for music. 

To have introduced your students to literature of 
this whimsically humorous and personal mood will be 
to provide them with one other avenue for the whole- 
some pleasure of the intellectual life. Such essays are 
not to be studied; they are to be pleasurably read. And 
may it not be true that their message to the world is 
just as important as those which carry the more 
heavily freighted intellectual appeal? 



CHAPTER XII 

THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 

When we English teachers consider that the infi- 
nitely small amount of reading our pupils can do in 
school hours, in contrast with the infinitely large 
amount they can do outside of school, and will do in 
the years that, in varying number, stretch far beyond 
their graduation days, when we realize the opportuni- 
ties that we have in directing them to books that will 
fill their lives with a loftier ideal and open to them an 
ampler range of thought and emotion, we are indeed 
false to our high trust if we do not give earnest atten- 
tion to the various possibilities for guiding them in 
their outside reading. 

In this task our purpose may well be personal and 
selective. Those of our pupils who come from homes 
of culture, who have been intelligently directed from 
their earliest reading years, will certainly need less of 
our care and thought than do those reared in a less 
fortunate environment. Even to the well-guided, how- 
ever, we can often suggest books which their parents 
may not have thought of or may not have known. 
Teachers, it may be further added, seeing these pupils 
from a non-parental angle, may very wisely supple- 
ment the reading guidance in undeveloped lines and 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 239 

for corrective purposes. After all this is said, however, 
the fact remains that the teacher's most helpful di- 
rections will be given to those who need them most — 
to those boys and girls who have not known the value 
of association with books, who may have developed 
no reading taste, and who are browsing in sterile pas- 
tures ignorant of the easy distance that intervenes be- 
tween this and a luxurious and more nutritious growth. 
To each individual pupil composing these classes — 
the well-directed and the undirected — the best ap- 
proach is usually through the personal conference. 

i. Personal Conference. You are sufficiently well 
acquainted with your boy to know that he is interested 
in deeds of manly courage and stirring adventure and 
that he loves the stimulus of ozone, frost, forest, and 
salt water. Send him to Jack London's The Call of the 
Wild, Dr. Grenfell's Adrift on the Ice Pan, Mark 
Twain's Tom Sawyer, Kipling's Captains Courageous, 
F. Hopkinson Smith's The Master Diver. Perhaps you 
may have the book on your desk, and can read a page 
or two just to stimulate his reading desire. The girl 
of opposite type, interested in quietness and quaint- 
ness, will enjoy Cranford and Pride and Prejudice and 
Little Women. 

The personal conference may accomplish a great 
deal in the way of acquainting you with phases of the 
individual pupil's character and life which previously 
had remained undisclosed. For these phases you will 
be continuously alert and you will readily adapt your 



240 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

recommendations to your new discovery and compass 
it with a sympathy which you had not previously felt. 

2. Modern Books. Since the vexed question of 
copyright enters so persistently into the choosing of 
books for reading and study in the regular English 
course, the more modern books are less frequently 
taken up in class even though they constantly invite 
selection. In the personal conference the teacher may 
discover that some book very recent from the press is 
just the book a certain boy or girl needs, and this book 
may be recommended for outside reading. Such a 
book as Harrison's Queed or Tarkington's The Tur- 
moil. To certain pupils some very modern volume of 
verse may be wisely recommended. While we wish to 
remain loyal to the classics, we do not want to be blind 
to the worth and message of the new and unplaced. 
There is no necessity for any re-waging of that old battle 
of the books, for a book is not necessarily poor because 
it is recent nor appropriate because it is classic. More- 
over, by showing an interest in this current literature, 
the teacher will oftentimes establish a more human 
relationship with the boys and girls who are interested 
in the "six best sellers," and the teacher's manifest en- 
joyment of some of these will give greater poignancy 
and potentiality to his praise of a given book of old 
repute. 

3. Cooperation with the city library. In advising 
certain books — particularly the more modern ones — 
the public library can be most helpful, and the school 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 241 

should therefore solicit the most cordial cooperation. 
In some cities it has been possible to establish a branch 
library in the school building, where a considerable 
number of library books are constantly kept on hand 
and where deliveries of any special books may be daily 
made. In addition to the familiarity with these books, 
there is established by this means a more easy intro- 
duction to the main library with the opportunities it 
richly offers in the way of reference books, magazines, 
and the apparatus for the thorough investigation of 
special topics. It must be borne in mind that the easy 
acquaintance that we teachers have acquired in hand- 
ling library cards and catalogues is something we have 
learned through long practice. We should remember 
that many of our children are deterred from the use of 
this library for the simple reason that they dread its 
unfamiliarity and its formalism. The work in outside 
reading, because of the spirit of cooperation it thus 
invokes, may readily afford the means of easy approach 
to all the library facilities. 

4. Summer reading. Teachers should not assume 
that all the opportunities for this directive work in 
supplementary reading are confined to the nine months 
of the school year. It is a custom in certain schools to 
make systematic attempts to direct the reading of the 
pupils during the summer. Usually some incentive in 
the way of credit or points is offered. To challenge 
entrance to a severer contest a larger number of points 
is not infrequently offered for the more difficult books. 



242 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

The reading of Carlyle's Heroes and Hero Worship 
might be credited with thirty points, while Barrie's 
The Little Minister might be credited with twenty. 
Usually, too, on reassembling in the fall some test is 
made to determine the thoroughness of the reported 
reading. 

In order to carry out this system satisfactorily it is 
well to have printed lists prepared for each grade. If 
the high school has the six-year plan, five lists are pre- 
pared, and a printed copy of the appropriate list of- 
fered to each pupil below the senior year. On his re- 
turn in the fall each pupil checks the books he has read 
and adds to the list the titles he has voluntarily chosen. 

In the Winsor School in Boston — a private school 
for girls — the plan has been in successful operation 
for several years. To Miss Elizabeth A. Dike, one of 
the teachers of the school, I am indebted for the fol- 
lowing senior list which, it will be noted, includes also 
French and German titles : — 

Art and Travel 

Our Lady's Tumbler. Thirteenth century. 

H. F. Brown, Venetian Studies. 

F. M. Crawford, Salve Venetia. 

Gardner, St. Catherine of Siena. 

R. Hichens, Egypt and its Monuments. 

3. C. Hobart, The Glory that was Greece. 

W, D. Howells, Italian Journeys. 

A. Le Bras, Au Pays des Pardons. 

3. P. Mahaffy, Greek Pictures. 

P. S. Marden, Greece and the Mgean Islands. 

E. McCurdy, Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook. 

T. S. Moore, Correggio. 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 243 

R. L. Stevenson, Velasquez. 

J. A. Symonds, Sketches in Italy and Greece. 

A. Symons, Cities of Italy. 

J. McN. Whistler, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. 

R. Rolland, Musiciens d'aujourd'hui. 

Biography and Letters 

A. Barine, Princesses et Grandes Dames. 

Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 

J. E. Cabot, Life of Emerson (2 vols.). 

S. Colvin, Letters of Stevenson. 

A. France, La Vie de Jeanne d' 'Arc. 

J. S. Mill, Autobiography. 

R. Rolland, La Vie de Beethoven. 

P. Sabatier, La Vie de St. Frangois d'Assisi. 

W. M. Thackeray, Letters of an American Family. 

V. van Gogh, Letters of a Post-Impressionist. 

Essays and Sociology 

J. Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House. 

J. Addams, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets. 

M. Arnold, Essays in Criticism. 

A. Barine, Portraits de Femmes. 

G. K. Chesterton, Varied Types. 

C. W. Eliot, The Durable Satisfactions of Life. 

R. W. Emerson, Essays. 

R. W. Emerson, Representative Men. 

R. W. Emerson, English Traits. 

M. Maeterlinck, Le Tresor des Humbles. 

W. Wyckoff, The Workers. 

Fiction 

H. Balzac, Cinq Scenes de la ComSdie Humaine. (Heath.) 

H. Balzac, Eugenie Grandet. 

J. Conrad, Lord Jim. 

J. Conrad, Youth. 

Dahn, Ein Kampf um Rom (historical). 

E. Eschenbach, Die Freiherren von Gemperlein. (Heath.) 

Freitag, Der Rittmeister von Altrosen. 

T. Gautier, Jettatura. (Heath.) 



244 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

J. W. v. Goethe, Hermann und Dorothea. (Heath.) 

R. Grant, Unleavened Bread. 

T. Hardy, A Pair of Blue Eyes. 

T. Hardy, A Laodicean. 

H. S. Harrison, Queed. 

N. Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter. 

M. Hewlett, The Stooping Lady. 

H. James, The American. 

Lenotre, Une Fille de Louis XVI. 

G. Meredith, Diana of the Crossways. 

G. Meredith, Evan Harrington. 

Miss Roberts, Mademoiselle Mori. 

R. L. Stevenson, Prince Otto. 

W. M. Thackeray, Vanity Fair. 

A. Trollope, The Warden. 

A. Trollope, Barchester Towers. 

A. Trollope, Phineas Finn. 

A. Trollope, Framley Parsonage. 

A. Trollope, The Small House at Allington. 

A. Trollope, The Last Chronicles of Barset. 

Mrs. Humphry Ward, Marcella. 

Mrs. Humphry Ward, Sir George Tressady. 

Mrs. Humphry Ward, Robert Elsmere. 

Mrs. Humphry Ward, Richard Meynell. 

M. S. Watts, Nathan Burke (historical). 

Miss Dike's personal comment follows : — 

While reading should not be overemphasized in the sum- 
mer vacation while the tendency wilts, and while we must 
admit that many of the brains seem to be very leaky sieves, 
and while our plan does not meet the needs of every child and 
might doubtless be improved, it is of great value. In the first 
place, it makes the child feel that literature and education 
are not shut up in school books and schools, and that we 
should learn to appreciate and to love books; second, that 
literature is not dead, that men are writing to-day; third, 
that everything between two covers is not worth reading; 
and fourth, that intelligent reading includes giving out as 
well as taking in. 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 245 

5. The reading list 1 should not be too long. To 
make these reading lists — whether for summer read- 
ing or for term-time reading — too long and too varied 
is to destroy the value of the suggestion. Most of us 
have so many favorites in fiction, drama, poetry, his- 
tory, biography, and travel that we are afraid to omit 
any from our suggestive list. But to make the list too 
comprehensive is to confront the student with the same 
indecision and embarrassment that confronts the 
neophyte who is ordering his first hotel dinner from an 
elaborate menu card. Years of dining may develop 
this timid tyro into a sophisticated epicure, but the 
result is not attained without the patient guidance of 
the initiated. The high-school list may be appropriately 
simplified into the " club-breakfast " type of menu, 
which is thoroughly adequate and thoroughly palata- 
ble and does not subject the pupil to embarrassment 
and indecision. 

1 The following lists for home reading offer full suggestions for the 
choice of books: — 

Abbott, Allan. Summer Reading for High-School Pupils. (In 
Baker, F. T., Bibliography of Children's Reading. Teachers College, 
Columbia University. 1908. 60 cents.) 

Grand Rapids, Michigan Public Library. List of books used by 
the English department of the Central High School in the work in 
vocational guidance. 

National Council of English Teachers. Books for Home Reading 
of High-School Pupils. University of Chicago Press. 10 cents. 

New York City Association of High School Teachers of English. 
List of Books for High-School Pupils for Home Reading. Leaflet no. 
xv, September, 1914. 

Newark Public Library. Reading for Pleasure and Profit. Newark, 
New Jersey. 10 cents. 



246 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

6. Same book for all the class. In many cases it 
is practicable and profitable to have the same book 
read by each member of the class, provided duplicates 
are in the school, or city library or can be economi- 
cally purchased. In connection with the study of the 
Renaissance movement, for example, Kinglsey's West- 
ward Ho ! may be wisely assigned. The age of Queen 
Anne is splendidly revealed by Thackeray's Henry 
Esmond with Steele, Addison, and Swift vividly and 
authentically portrayed. While studying Shakespeare, 
Burns, and Byron, each member of the class may be 
asked to read Master Skylark, Nancy Stair, and The 
Castaway. As Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities is not 
written in the author's usual style, the class might, 
while reading it, be asked to read one which is more 
nearly typical — Hard Times, for example, which has 
the advantage of being short. 

7. Personal ownership and book-plates. The em- 
phasis laid upon outside reading may be made stronger 
if pupils are encouraged to own their own books and 
select their own book-plates. There is something in- 
finitely more personal and intimate in a book that you 
own, in contrast with the one you borrow from the 
library. While all of us will read many borrowed books, 
we should, if possible, permit ourselves a certain 
amount of luxury in book-buying — choosing good and 
attractive editions and stamping them with our own 
individual book-plates. In encouraging the selection of 
a design for a book-plate the English teacher may co- 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 247 

operate with the art department. Many various types 
of book-plates may be secured for display from the 
city library, and those pupils who are skillful in drawing 
may be encouraged to make their own designs. 

The English teacher will, of course, prevent this 
extraneous interest from usurping the interest in the 
thought and message of the book; but he will be par- 
doned if he turns lovingly to one of his own favorite 
volumes, pasted with his own book-plate, marked by 
his own checks and comments, crossed by his own 
cross-references, and splashed by a drop of rain that fell 
from his own umbrella the last time he walked across 
his own college campus. And for these varied markings 
and marrings, while the volume will be all the less 
valuable to the second-hand dealer, it will be all the 
more valuable to the first-hand owner. Who would 
forego such ownership? 

8. The special tablet list. Where circumstances al- 
low, the use of a specially compiled tablet that prints 
a list of books suitable for the separate years may af- 
ford valuable suggestions. It keeps the list prominently 
before the student's eyes and may be one of the agencies 
that will serve to inhibit careless selection. The list, 
prepared by Professor C. N. Greenough and printed in 
the English A Manual of Instructions and Exercises, 
is admirable for college freshmen. Purged of its more 
difficult titles it affords valuable hints, for the more 
mature high-school pupils. 1 

1 This list, by permission of Professor Greenough, is printed in 
the Appendix. 



248 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

9. The Book-Club suggestions. In the discussion of 
fiction, mention was made of the Book-Club and the 
various advantages it offered. The titles of these books 
which the students bring to the attention of the class 
should be carefully recorded by the teacher. The list 
indicates very clearly the character of the voluntary 
reading and furnishes valuable suggestion in the way 
of titles. It is a good plan to have these titles type- 
written — after revision of the list by the teacher — 
and posted on the classroom bulletin board. The 
posted list keeps the interest alive after the meetings 
of the Book-Club have ceased, and offers opportunity 
for its continued stimulus. 

Where conditions make it possible, the members of 
a division may, in connection with their established 
Book-Club, encourage the members to contribute one 
or two of their favorite books or provide a small fund 
that a committee may expend. For these books a 
special case may be secured — perhaps furnished by 
the manual training department — and the books ex- 
changed, some member of the class acting as Club 
librarian. This is all the more feasible because many 
excellent books, selected from the Everyman's Library 
or some similar series, may be bought in good bind- 
ings at a low price. At the end of the year the 
case of books could be presented, with an appro- 
priate inscription, to the school library. The students 
could be made to feel that they were contribut- 
ing to the permanent equipment of the school and 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 249 

thus be receiving a valuable lesson in community 
welfare. 

io. Number of books that each pupil should read. 
To establish any Draconian law in reference to the 
exact number of books that each pupil shall perforce 
read is likely to wreck the high interest of supplemen- 
tary reading; for unless this reading is to give pleasure, 
the enforcement of unalterable demands is likely to 
mar our one paramount aim — the aim to inculcate 
a genuine love for good literature. Moreover, we must 
in this, as in all our English work, remember the ex- 
treme variability in the rate of reading. One high- 
school pupil will in an hour read seventy -five pages of 
an ordinary novel while another pupil in the same di- 
vision will read no more than twenty pages. Then, 
too, it must constantly be borne in mind that books 
vary greatly in length, in ease of comprehension, and 
in the value and interest of their message. Left to his 
own undirected choice the average pupil will select 
a short and easy story; but if definite divisions are 
made in the list (long novels, short novels, groups of 
stories, dramas, poetry, letters, biographies, and 
essays), and if some such system is enforced that will 
at the same time allow considerable election — if some 
such design is tactfully followed and the required num- 
ber left to personal adjustment, the aim of the supple- 
mentary reading will not be entirely lost. By the right 
sort of tantalizing challenge a considerable interest may 
be aroused and a legitimate rivalry established. 



250 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ii. Testing the outside reading. While much of our 
direction should be inspirational in tone and should 
habitually be suggestive rather than mandatory, we 
shall nevertheless not ignore the definite assignment 
nor the subsequent test. This test may be an oral 
report, a written report, or a written or an oral ex- 
amination. Oftentimes, however, the press of time and 
circumstance urges a more economical method. Where 
all members of the class have read the same book we 
may use a special device which has always proved suc- 
cessful. When the book is assigned, explain the sort 
of test that is to be used on the completion of the read- 
ing. If there are twenty-five members of the section, 
announce that you will prepare a list of twenty-five 
questions designed to cover in an adequate and orderly 
way the trend and significance of events in the story. 
On the day set for the test have your questions all 
ready, numerically arranged. Small squares of paper 
or cardboard consecutively numbered from one to 
twenty-five have also been prepared in advance, and 
after cursory shuffling are passed around for random 
drawing. The pupil who draws Card Number 1 is 
responsible for Question Number 1, the pupil who 
draws Card Number 2 is responsible for Question 
Number 2, and so on until the twenty-fifth question is 
answered. Each pupil as he recites is given a grade 
which registers the degree of correctness or compre- 
hensiveness of his answer. If the pupil fails on the one 
question, he fails on the test. But of such a judgment 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 251 

he has had ample warning; and this, along with the 
detailed explanation of the rules early given, urges 
thorough preparation. It needs no expert baseball 
metaphysician to convince even a novice that when the 
runner is out he does not score; and as the rules are 
thoroughly understood, no complaint against such 
pedagogical umpiring is likely to be registered. 

As a concrete illustration of the foregoing method 
we submit a set of questions on Dickens's Hard 
Times : — 

Oral Test on Dickens's "Hard Times" 

1. Explain Gradgrind's philosophy. 

2. Who was the "third gentleman" present at the opening 
scene, and what did he do? 

3. Explain the presence of Sissy Jupe in the school. 

4. Briefly tell who Mr. Boun derby was. 

5. Narrate the incident of Gradgrind's visit to Sleary 's tent. 

6. Who is Mrs. Sparsit? 

7. In the chapter entitled "Never Wonder," what is re- 
vealed in reference to the attitude of Tom and Louisa 
toward each other? 

8. What, in contrast to Tom's and Louisa's, has been 
Sissy's literary training? 

9. Tell us of Stephen Blackpool and his present situation. 

10. Give an account of his visit to Mr. Bounderby's. 

11. Who is Mrs. Pegler? What part does she play in the 
story? 

12. What happened the night Rachel stayed with Stephen 
and his wife? 

13. Why was Tom anxious for his sister to marry Bound- 
erby? 

14. Tell of the conversation between Louisa and Mr. Grad- 
grind concerning the proposed marriage. 

15. What was significant in Sissy's action when she heard 



252 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

of this proposed marriage? What effect did this have 
on Louisa? 

16. What is the relationship of Bitzer and Mrs. Sparsit? 

17. Tell the incident of the arrival of Mr. Harthouse in 
Coketown. 

18. What is brought out in the conversation between Hart- 
house and the "whelp"? 

19. Relate the incident of Stockbridge and Stephen. 

20. What is the result of Stephen's conversation with 
Bounderby that same evening? 

21. How does Louisa show her sympathy for Stephen? 

22. What means does Harthouse employ to win Louisa's 
love? 

23. Under what circumstances is the news of the robbery 
brought to the reader? What preparation has the reader 
had for this? 

24. What temporary change does the robbery make in Mrs. 
Sparsit's living arrangements? What allegory does 
Dickens employ? 

25. How was Mrs. Sparsit helped in her intuition that 
Harthouse was with Louisa? 

26. Tell of her discovery of Harthouse and Louisa and 
what she overheard. 

27. What is brought out in the dramatic conversation be- 
tween Louisa and her father? 

28. What part does Sissy play in cutting the entanglement 
between Harthouse and Louisa? 

29. In what ways has her influence been shown in the 
household? 

30. What did Mrs. Sparsit do after her discovery and what 
was the issue? 

31. What were the terms of Mr. Bounderby's ultimatum 
and how did Louisa meet it? 

32. What part did Rachel play in trying to relieve Stephen 
of the charge of the robbery? 

33. Narrate the events of the Sunday that led to finding 
Stephen in the pit. 

34. After Stephen was found what suggestion did Sissy 
secretly make to Tom? 



THE PROBLEM OF OUTSIDE READING 253 

35. Who was chiefly responsible for Tom's ultimate escape? 
Narrate the circumstances. 

36. What was Tom's attitude toward Louisa and what was, 
years afterward, its final issue? 

37. What led Bounderby to send Mrs. Sparsit to Lady 
Scadgers? 

38. Explain Dickens's method of letting us know the future 
of each important character. 

39. What was Sleary's conviction relative to the fate of 
Sissy's father? 

All these detailed suggestions on outside reading will 
prove empty and barren if there is a dearth of interest 
and knowledge in the soul and brain of the teacher. 
Few phases of our work demand a finer craftsmanship 
or solicit a more earnest devotion than that which 
generates the spontaneous choice of good reading. We 
must ourselves know well the books that we have 
read, and we must constantly increase our store. Not 
to keep within the current of the times is to lose our 
opportunity for the most virile guidance. None of us 
can know at first hand any considerable proportion 
of the good books of the past or of the present, but we 
can learn to accept the guidance of some of the estab- 
lished critics and get from our friends their reactions 
on current reading. If we are earnest and alert in all 
these matters we can be intelligent guides in the en- 
chanted realm of books. 



CHAPTER XIII 

SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS TO THE TEACHING OF 
ENGLISH 

In the stress which the daily curriculum lays upon 
classroom work in English we are sometimes tempted 
to ignore the possibilities which lie in the immediate 
vicinity of routine. We feel the insistent demands for 
the intensive study of Macbeth and the Conciliation 
Speech, and for the reading and discussion of each 
separate book that we have selected from the college- 
requirement list. Especially where our teaching effi- 
ciency is measured by our success in getting our stu- 
dents safely piloted through the college examinations, 
we are unfortunately under the constant temptation 
to narrow our field of endeavor and reduce the work to 
barren drill. Yet to yield to this limiting tendency is 
to shut out the opportunities to inspire many of our 
students to seek a broader and a richer culture beyond 
the specific demands of the class assignments. This 
broader cultural outlook may, in many schools, be 
secured by such agencies as: (1) The school paper; 
(2) debating; (3) prize speaking; (4) the city and the 
school libraries ; (5) Pictures; and (6) the English 
Club. The following discussion considers each of 
these in turn. 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 255 

1. The school paper 

A continued incentive to better work in composition 
is provided by the school paper. Too often, however, 
the possibilities of school journalism are not clearly per- 
ceived by the English teachers — or if clearly perceived 
they are not kept prominently in the foreground of the 
student's view. 

We teachers are always a little too chary of publicly 
recognizing the merit of our pupils. Yet we must admit 
that one of the most potent agencies in successful 
athletics is the very publicity of the games — particu- 
larly in the liberal recognition that the daily press offers. 
Just how far the school should go in encouraging such 
a stimulus is of course a mooted problem, but certainly 
no experienced teacher would question the propriety 
of encouraging pupils to submit their efforts to the 
school editor with the hope of gratifying the laudable 
ambition of seeing their work in print. And such an 
ambition the English staff should freely develop. 

The greatest care should, however, be exercised re- 
garding the accepted articles. Clarity of style, whole- 
some humor, poetry, cleverness in verse, originality of 
treatment, piquancy, variety, sincerity, loyalty, and 
democracy — all these should be displayed in each issue 
and set a firm standard for each succeeding number. 

In too many school papers jokes from the exchanges 
or from the current newspapers and magazines are 
freely admitted and supply most of the material for the 



256 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

humorous columns. The English department should 
interest itself in developing power and originality in 
joke-writing and in clever versifying. 

It is in connection with the regular theme work, 
however, that the school paper may be made to yield 
its richest possibilities. Each teacher on the English 
staff should be continually on the watch for suitable 
publication material from the required themes and 
recommend to the editor those themes that set a high 
standard of excellence and supply the proper stimula- 
tions for the composition classes. 

The same principles, somewhat more elaborately 
developed, may be applied to the school annual — 
provided the school issues such a publication. A large 
staff — differing in personnel from the staff editing 
the school paper — is thus given experience in practi- 
cal managing and in practical editing. And aside from 
increased sensitiveness to correctness and aesthetics 
in style, considerable benefit comes from the executive 
and business training. 

The spirit of cooperation manifests itself in another 
way. Pupils and teachers working together in these 
enterprises come to understand each others' point of 
view, and the cordial relationship developed in this 
intimacy spreads throughout the school and aids in 
the development of a more wholesome school spirit. 

This is in line with the best tendency in modern 
education, — the desire to use such methods as will 
best effect the complete socializing of the group. 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 257 

2. Debating 

Debating, when rightly conceived and rightly taught, 
is one of the best forms of oral composition and is one 
of our most valuable supplementary aids to English 
teaching. As there are so many things, however, that 
militate against its success in high school, it is incum- 
bent upon those in authority to give to this subject 
most intelligent consideration. The extremes of danger 
are, on the one hand, irrelevancy; on the other hand, 
exaggerated formalism. 

All of us have heard two persons arguing questions 
when they understood neither the nature of the points 
raised nor the position that the opponent was endeavor- 
ing to maintain. The terms they used were either un- 
defined or ill-defined, and consequently misinterpreted. 
When these were finally explained, it was apparent 
that the prolonged discussion was entirely futile; the 
opponents really held the same views, but, as each mis- 
understood the other, wordy chaos ensued. Or, per- 
haps, they did understand each other, but the special 
argument presented by one of the contestants was 
ignored by the other and was speciously met by a de- 
tail entirely unrelated to the point just raised. Stories, 
illustrations, analogies were employed, but employed 
with no regard to system and little regard to relevancy. 
Such a speaker was satisfied if by these unlawful 
methods he raised a laugh at the expense of his op- 
ponent and merely produced embarrassment, where 



258 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

high conception concerning the function of argument 
would have sought convincement. All the faults here 
disclosed we have likewise seen in many high-school 
debates. 

The more frequent fault, however, — particularly in 
interscholastic debating — is that of over-formalism. 
The date is prearranged months in advance, the serv- 
ices of various faculty-members in each of the compet- 
ing schools are enlisted, and all the paraphernalia of 
the game brought finally and formally upon the stage, 
ready for elaborate public display and enthusiastic ap- 
plause. The function of true debate is lost in formal- 
ism and in the desire to win. Instead of being a debate 
it really resolves itself into an oratorical contest; for 
too often all the speeches — even the speeches in re- 
buttal — are memorized verbatim and thus lose their 
argumentative force. There is no firm seizing of the 
opponent's points and therefore little effective coun- 
ter-play and refutation in the midst of the debate 
proper. 

Where there is prerecognition of the main faults — 
irrelevancy and formalism — debating work may be 
carried on successfully in a school that has on its staff 
one competent and enthusiastic teacher who is willing 
to spend a large amount of time in planning and super- 
vision. 

The important work is the work done within the 
school, and this may be effectively accomplished either 
through classroom instruction or through the agency 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 259 

of the debating club. In either case the teacher in 
charge should choose a good text on debating and ac- 
cept that as the basis for practice. The group should 
then settle down to master the art of effective debating 
by close closeted work that relies upon conscientious 
and concentrated application rather than the show and 
tinsel of a formal interscholastic contest. 

To prevent the work from degenerating to pseudo- 
oratory and formalism, some schools have, in their in- 
terscholastic contests, abandoned the old policy of 
selecting a question many weeks in advance of the 
formal debate. At Groton and Middlesex, for example, 
the representatives of the two schools jointly agree 
upon some outsider whose function it is to select a 
question. The question he selects is sent to each school 
on the morning of the date appointed for the public 
contest. Each school has, in the mean time, selected 
its three speakers and an alternate. These four men in 
each school are, at eight o'clock on the morning of the 
debate, told what the question is, are given the sole 
privilege of the school library for the day, and there 
together — without faculty, coach, or other outside 
help — collect their material and organize their debate 
for that evening's contest. 

The one who selects a question for this sort of debate 
is of course directed to select some question that is 
comparatively easy — one that does not demand elab- 
orate research, and one that easily differentiates into 
two clearly distinguished opposing views. 



260 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

It will be easily seen that such a method eliminates 
all possibilities of the committed speech and encour- 
ages extensive refutation during the whole progress of 
the debate. Moreover, it demands for its successful 
issue long and careful preparation on the essentials of 
debate. In such a contest no school that does not teach 
broadly the best methods of organization can hope to 
win. In addition to this, it lays its final responsibility 
where it belongs - — upon the team rather than upon 
the coach. Where this or some similar method is em- 
ployed, the practice in debating splendidly supple- 
ments the English work of the school. 

3. Prize speaking 

The aid offered by contests in declamation has re- 
cently been viewed with more or less disparagement, 
but rightly conducted the work in declamation may 
possess unquestioned value. It is particularly adapted 
to first-year classes and may be utilized as a means of 
developing school spirit and arousing individual ambi- 
tion. We must continually remember the fact that as 
there are few things more disheartening for an indi- 
vidual than continued failure, so there are few things 
more stimulating than successful performance. Some 
pupils can win this success only in declamation, and 
for such pupils a public contest is of unquestioned 
value. 

In some schools the Senior class, or some other or- 
ganization, offers a declamation prize to competing 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 261 

Freshmen. In the larger schools, where there are sev- 
eral Freshman divisions, each division by preliminary 
trials chooses its two or three best declaimers. The 
successful competitors in turn meet the representa- 
tives from other divisions, and by a process of elimi- 
nation and selection a half dozen or more are chosen 
for the public contest. 

All this imposes a good deal of work upon the teacher. 
The literary selections must be carefully made. Not 
only must they be suitable in themselves; they must 
be adapted to the temperament and personality of the 
given contestants. Considerable drill and close atten- 
tion must be given to posture, enunciation, voice man- 
agement, and all those countless details that make or 
mar successful performance. 1 

4. The city and school libraries 

The effectiveness of the English course may be greatly 
increased by the more general and the more intelligent 
use of both the public and the school library. Any dis- 
cussion of the problem of outside reading emphasizes 
the advantage to be secured by close cooperation be- 
tween the school and public library. It is even possi- 
ble in some cases to make the school a branch of the 
public library. I shall, in the present section, deal 
principally with the problem of the library within the 
school, for no school is so small or so poor that it may 

1 Snow's The High-School Prize Speaker, Houghton Mifflin 
Company, comprises a large number of selections that have been 
successfully used in public declamation contests. 



262 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

not do something in the way of library equipment, 
though this equipment must necessarily, in certain 
communities, be extremely meager. 

The first demand is for good reference books. As 
Miss Frances Simpson, Reference Librarian at the Uni- 
versity of Illinois, has prepared an excellent list, which 
is published in the Bulletin of the Illinois Association 
of Teachers of English (April, 1912), I am reprinting it 
in the Appendix, with a few changes. 

Books other than reference books will be of wide 
choice and variety, selected with the design of cultivat- 
ing the reader's better taste and offering as great a 
variety as the available funds warrant. Purchase of 
complete sets of authors is usually to be discouraged 
because so many books of such sets are likely to go 
unread and simply cumber the shelves. Expensive sub- 
scription books are likewise to be avoided. Good, plain, 
substantial, cloth-bound, well-illustrated books of the 
reputable publishing houses should be chosen in prefer- 
ence to the flashily bound volumes issued by the 
cheaper and less responsible firms. Recent novels — 
except in the rarest cases — should be left for purchase 
by the public library rather than by the school library. 
On the other hand, the recently published books on 
criticism, representing the best modern approach, 
should be as freely purchased as the funds allow. As 
aids in book-buying the following lists l may prove of 
value. 

1 For these lists and for other suggestions in this section I am in- 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 263 

1. New York State. University. School Libraries Divi- 
sion. Albany, New York. Annotated book list for sec- 
ondary schools: English section, prepared with sug- 
gestions from R. T. Congdon, Albany, 1914. Compiled 
for small high schools. 

2. Minnesota. State Education Department. St. Paul, 
Minnesota. List of books for high-school libraries. 
1913. Compiled for small high schools. 

3. Oregon State Library Commission, Salem, Oregon. 
Books for high-school libraries. 25 cents. 

4. United States Education, Bureau of. List of books for 
high-school libraries, compiled by teachers in the High 
School of Education. Chicago University, Illinois. 
Washington, 1914. 

5. Wisconsin State Education Department. Books for 
high-school libraries and supplement. Madison, Wis- 
consin. 15 cents. 

Note: Supplement is especially suggestive for rural 
high schools with agricultural courses. 

6. The Illinois Association of Teachers of English Bul- 
letin. Vol. ix, no. IV. Prepared by Professor H. G. 
Paul. Books for high-school English. 

Whether or not magazines should be admitted to the 
school library is again a question of funds. Where the 
public library is within easy reach, the school can wisely 
reserve its money for the purchase of needed books. 
Yet for oral theme work, debates, reports on current 
events, and for the purpose of stimulating reading 
tastes, most of us should welcome the following to our 
high-school library tables : Current Literature, The Lit- 
erary Digest, The Outlook, The Survey, Review of in- 
debted to Miss Mary E. Hall, Girls' High School, Brooklyn, New 
York, chairman of the Committee on High-School Library Equip- 
ment Work, appointed by the National Council of Teachers of Eng- 
lish. 



264 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

views, The Independent, National Geographic Maga- 
zine, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Century, and Scrib- 
ner's. If the school cannot afford the purchase of these, 
pupils will often volunteer to furnish copies. Certain 
newspapers, as a business advertisement, will some- 
times furnish their daily copies free. 

In one significant particular the potential help and in- 
spiration of the library has never been fully developed. 
I refer to the possibilities inherent in the pedagogical 
morgue. Most of us know, from hearsay at least, the 
value of the newspaper morgue and how sacredly it is 
guarded by newspaper editors and managers. Each 
school might in a similar way make the school library 
the repository of all the various schemes and devices 
that different teachers have worked out. Clippings 
from newspapers, separate articles from magazines, 
maps, photographs, souvenir postal cards, special ap- 
paratus, stereopticon slides, all these, if conveniently 
filed and catalogued, can be frequently used to stimu- 
late a keener interest and secure a firmer intellectual 
grasp. Each generation of workers can, moreover, take 
pride in adding to this store, knowing that their efforts 
may increase the pleasure and the efficiency of the 
future. Continual sharing of these schemes and con- 
tinual reference to them will help to generate a spirit 
of originality and resourcefulness. 

For the proper care of all these books, magazines, 
and helps, it is highly desirable that the authorities pro- 
vide a good room — well-lighted, well-ventilated, suit- 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 265 

ably and attractively furnished, and made as noiseless 
as possible. The greatest care should be exercised in 
the choice of a librarian. She should be well trained in 
library work, have exceptional disciplinary power, and 
be of a helpful and sympathetic temperament. De- 
mands are varied and exacting and she should be ready 
to meet them. If circumstances allow, the library 
should be kept open after school hours and every op- 
portunity provided for the hearty encouragement of 
wholesome reading. 

5. Pictures 

The use of illustrations in books, magazines, and 
newspapers is so common that we simply grow to ac- 
cept their aid as a matter of course and seldom stop to 
question their value as a means of enforcing a clearer 
thought or generating a stronger emotion. Eliminate 
all these drawings from our books and periodicals, 
take down all the pictures from our walls, forbid the 
use of the camera, — the mere suggestion of even one 
of these misfortunes brings directly to our minds the 
part that modern illustration plays in our current 
lives. But have we as teachers fully recognized the 
aid that pictures offer in the teaching of English? 

In composition work their possibilities are almost 
unlimited. A pupil skilled in drawing may, by the 
use of clever sketchings, make his descriptive or 
narrative themes far more entertaining and far more 
direct in their appeal. Or if he lack this skill he 



266 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

may, instead of relying upon original drawings, sub- 
stitute the snapshot, and thus at once increase the 
interest. 

It is in connection with the literature work, how- 
ever, that we shall perhaps find the most habitual need 
for the use of pictures. Many readers will recall that 
it was Dore's illustrations of Dante's Divine Comedy 
or Paradise Lost or The Ancient Mariner that first 
stimulated a desire to read these masterpieces. The 
vivid imagination of a gifted artist thus seen revealed 
stimulated the imagination of many of us who were 
less mature and less gifted. It was not of so much im- 
portance that Dore's drawings helped us to interpret 
these particular masterpieces; the greater service lay 
in the fact that help in the particular instances re- 
vealed a potentiality in ourselves that we had not 
yet even suspected — the power of words to make 
these picturesque appeals. And even though we could 
not make these conceptions live on canvas or in line- 
drawings, we found that we could make them live in 
our own minds. 

The value of pictures in the English classroom, is of 
course accepted by every teacher. The problem is a 
more specific one — Where can I secure the pictures 
that will aid me in teaching a particular selection? All 
English teachers are deeply indebted to Camelia Car- 
hart Ward for the admirable lists that she has pub- 
lished in the English Journal, vol. 4, pp. 526 jf. and 
671, vol. 5, p. 274/. 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 267 

The use of pictures as an aid to making the text of 
literature clearer is perhaps the point which we as 
English teachers are likely to emphasize. As a natural 
accompaniment to this is the aesthetic appeal and the 
opportunity thus given to open to our pupils the great 
messages in the realm of art. 

6. The English Club 

Perhaps I can best convey my ideas concerning an 
English Club by giving in concrete form an account of 
the English Club at the Newton High School. With 
this account as a point of departure, or base of 
suggestion, any teacher interested in the formation 
of such a club can easily make the necessary adjust- 
ment. 

The Club was organized at a mass meeting open to 
all Juniors and Seniors who had, at the preceding 
quarter, received an honor grade (A or B) in English. 
Announcement was there made of the general plan 
which the organizers had formed. The plan was a 
simple one. It was proposed that all Juniors and Sen- 
iors receiving these honor grades should be eligible to 
join this club, which was designed to promote a closer 
social feeling and to secure a broader and more accu- 
rate knowledge of English and American literature — 
particularly current literature. While the English 
teachers were deeply interested in the Club, they were 
merely to be lay members and offer such advisory di- 
rection as the Club wished. The general initiatory 



268 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

direction and labor were to be under the management 
of the pupils themselves, the center of authority being 
lodged in an Executive Committee. 

At the next meeting of the Club the officers, who 
compose the Executive Committee, were elected. They 
immediately began arrangements for the more de- 
tailed organization and serial programs for the remain- 
ing months of the year. A brief constitution was 
drafted, the dues fixed at fifty cents a year, and a de- 
cision reached that the Club would meet monthly — 
or oftener, at the call of the Executive Committee. 

The Club has now been in operation long enough 
for traditions to become established. The first meeting 
each autumn, for example, is largely social. A short 
literary program is provided, and some literary game is 
devised that brings the sixty or seventy members into 
closer acquaintance, after which the Club willingly 
comes under the informal command of the refreshment 
committee. 

During the year each program is usually made to 
center about one literary personage — usually a modern 
author who is not taken up for study in the regular 
English classes. We have had, for example, meetings 
devoted to the biographies and writings of Eugene 
Field, James Whitcomb Riley, Alfred Noyes, John 
Masefield, Joel Chandler Harris, William Drummond, 
and Stephen Leacock. One program committee de- 
cided on a dramatic presentation of Cranford, and an- 
other gave an afternoon to acting selected scenes from 



SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS 269 

Dickens's novels, and still another arranged for an old- 
fashioned spelling match. 

The main event each year is the production of an 
original play. Should no thoroughly worthy play be 
submitted for any one year — as has happened once 
during the five years that the club has been in exist- 
ence — some other public entertainment would prob- 
ably be substituted. During the five years nine original 
plays have been submitted, any one of which was thor- 
oughly worthy of presentation; but we accept but one 
play each year and attempt to make that one the 
crowning annual social event not only of the Club but 
of the entire school. Thus the Club has solved the local 
dramatic problem. As each member is deeply inter- 
ested in the school library, the Club usually applies the 
profits of the play — three hundred dollars or more — 
to the library fund. 

Perhaps the chief value of the Club, from the stand- 
point of the English department is the continued incen- 
tive to high standards in classroom work. Eligibility 
to the English Club has become one of the most coveted 
privileges of the school. The effort to secure and to 
retain this privilege acts as a constant stimulus to the 
members of the upper classes. Nor is the incentive con- 
fined exclusively to Juniors and Seniors; during the 
latter half of each year the Club admits to honorary 
membership all Freshmen and Sophomores who during 
the year have secured an average of A. Some such 
stimulation to higher attainment seems necessary in 



270 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

an age so filled with novelty, amusement, and diver- 
sion. 

The six enumerated supplementary aids — the school 
paper, the debating clubs, prize speaking, the libraries, 
pictures, and the English Club — are of course not the 
only aids that may be used to supplement the work in 
English. There are possibilities in pageants, moving- 
pictures, museums, travel, visits to factories, lectures, 
and concerts. Almost every school may utilize as an 
incentive the strong local interests — a curiosity of 
nature, a distinguishing industry, an historical shrine, 
a prominent institution. Interest in any one of these, 
ramifying in so many varied directions, can always be 
utilized as valuable supplementary aids to English 
teaching and to cultural development. 



CHAPTER XIV 

ADJUSTING THE HIGH-SCHOOL ENGLISH COURSE 

TO THE DEMANDS OF THE COMMERCIAL, 

TECHNICAL, AND VOCATIONAL PUPILS 

Twenty years ago the adjustment of our English 
course to the capacity of our commercial, technical, 
and vocational pupils was not a disturbing problem. 
Pupils taking these courses were limited in number 
and the English work that was given them was in most 
cases no different from the English required of all the 
other pupils in the school. With the marvelous growth 
that these newer types of schools have had in recent 
years, conditions have in many communities entirely 
changed. The high school, which formerly had as its 
clientele only the children of educated parents, now 
has hundreds of children from homes unacquainted 
with the atmosphere of books; in many cases the par- 
ents cannot read or speak the English language, and in 
other cases the parents entertain little regard for con- 
ventional correctness. These changed conditions have 
naturally affected the character of the English in- 
struction, and have led in some instances to most 
radical changes. 

The most radical innovations decree that no book 
now on the college-entrance-requirement list shall in 
any case be read by the pupils in the commercial, 



272 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

technical, and vocational courses. The themes written 
shall not be drawn from books read, but shall in all 
cases be directly connected with the work that is being 
done along vocational lines. The selection of topics for 
oral work shall be subject to the same severe restric- 
tion. The English that is taught shall be Business 
English. 

In connection with this term now currently em- 
ployed, it is pertinent to inquire just how Business 
English differs from any other kind of English. Those 
who have had experience in teaching it agree that it 
lays its strongest emphasis upon such elementary de- 
mands as neatness of manuscript, legibility of hand- 
writing, correct spelling, correct forms of words, cor- 
rect sentence structure, business letters, good oral 
expression, and intelligent comprehension of the 
thought. 

Thus analyzed it is apparent that Business English 
is not different in kind from any other English; it sim- 
ply devotes more of its energy to persistent drill on 
principles of the more elementary sort and on the elim- 
ination of common errors in grammar. It is forced to 
employ more time because the school receives from 
the home no direct help in English. The pupil has, on 
the contrary, unfortunately received from his parents 
the heritage of ungrammatical form and illiterate 
usage; he has lived a life entirely alien to the atmos- 
phere which books bring to the home; the chances are 
that his natural mental powers in academic lines are 



ADJUSTMENT OF THE ENGLISH COURSE 273 

proportionately limited. All of these hindrances dic- 
tate the stress that Business English places upon cor- 
rect form. 

Pupils taking this course have a direct incentive 
urging them to overcome these errors. Those prepar- 
ing to become stenographers or typewriters know per- 
fectly well that they must master the conventional 
forms for business letters; they must learn to spell, to 
punctuate, and to paragraph; they must acquire a 
larger vocabulary and learn the art of effectively using 
the English language^ Unless they become reasonably 
proficient no firm will employ them; unless they attain 
special skill no firm will ever pay them the salary 
which their ambitions have set. And those pupils who 
are working in other fields — printing, forging, car- 
pentry, for example — will easily see that poor English 
is a severe handicap and will prevent as high or as rapid 
promotion as their ambitions urge. As this direct in- 
centive is near and obvious — for pupils must become 
reasonably efficient before they can receive the recom- 
mendation of the school authorities — it encourages 
quick and thorough attainment. But as the imposed 
handicaps of capacity and environment are difficult to 
escape, the necessity for continued drill is inexorably 
constant, f It is significant, however, that pupils am- 
bitious to become stenographers are often far more 
accurate in punctuation and spelling than are those 
who are preparing for college. Because many in this 
latter group lack the wage-incentive and the more 



274 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

immediate goal, they therefore lack this direct spur 
which urges quick attainment in accuracy, i 

It is, of course, apparent that the drill necessary to 
acquire a fair degree of skill in written and oral usage 
cannot differ essentially from the drill we give the 
classical or college group. We can place the stress 
where defects are most frequent and we can make the 
most of our appeal to practical ends. Letter-writing 
needs particular emphasis with special attention to the 
selection of a good quality of plain white or cream- 
colored stationery for the friendly letter and the proper 
conventions in this and the business letter. Discussing 
this point in English Problems, 1 Mr. Oscar C. Galla- 
gher, Head Master of the West Roxbury High School, 
Boston, writes : — 

To treat commercial correspondence too seriously at the 
outset is a great mistake. The mechanical details, of course, 
can be easily taught; but the real business of a letter can- 
not be transacted unless the pupil actually understands the 
transaction involved. This knowledge pupils often lack at 
the time of their entrance into high school. The various 
types of note connected with their school affairs may, how- 
ever, be well taken up early in the course. Excuses for tardi- 
ness and absence, requests for permission to consult other 
teachers or visit the library, etc., should be first taken up. 
A standard form should be decided upon by the teachers of 
English and business technique and the principal, and this 
form should be insisted upon in all rooms and departments. 
The habit of proper arrangement and correct expression can 
be speedily implanted if requests are uniformly refused when 
couched with the slightest inaccuracy. 

1 English Problems No. 6, The Teaching of English in Commer~ 
rial Courses. Houghton Mifflin Company. 



ADJUSTMENT OF THE ENGLISH COURSE 275 

After these simple notes the teacher should take up the 
short business letters that young people find occasion to 
write. Requests for catalogues and samples, subscriptions 
to periodicals, inquiries about stamp, coin, and other agen- 
cies, orders for books and athletic goods, arrangements for 
games, specifications for decorating the school hall for a 
dance, and the like, are forms such as almost every pupil has 
to use. Following these may come the formal application for 
a position, the request for interviews, or for a letter of recom- 
mendation, the making of appointments, the specification 
of means and time of transportation for expected visitors, 
the engaging of rooms at hotels, and the reserving of parlor 
car seats. 

To give the letter-writing the spirit of real business, alter- 
nate rows in a class may be designated different well-known 
business houses, the intervening rows representing the pur- 
chasing public. In each row a manager can assign to differ- 
ent pupils the tasks of writing circular letters, receiving and 
answering orders, handling complaints, adjusting claims, and 
requesting attention to accounts overdue. An extensive mail 
order business can be built up thus in the classroom, and the 
variety and earnestness of the letters will be surprising. 

As early as the beginning of the third year, the serious 
study of a first-rate textbook in commercial correspondence 
should begin. In addition to the performance of tasks as- 
signed in the book there should be brief criticisms almost 
daily of bona fide business letters that members of the class 
bring in. Almost every large business house has many letters 
of no permanent value or private nature that the manager is 
perfectly willing to turn over to the school. The reading of 
some of these letters helps to fix in the minds of the pupils ex- 
pressions peculiar to special lines of business. The special 
vocabularies that are thus formed should be steadily devel- 
oped by the use of a business speller, in which, in addition to 
principles and rules, the vocabularies peculiar to every com- 
mon business are presented for spelling and the terms ex- 
plained. 

With the knowledge of commerce secured from his other 
studies and his own experience in business, and with the in- 



276 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

sight that wide examination of business letters gives him, a 
pupil should be able to think clearly upon business problems. 
With the practice gained in four years of composition he 
should be able to speak and write of these problems effec- 
tively. 

In addition to this systematic work in letter- writing, 
other forms of written composition, in no sense 
markedly different from the composition done by 
other classes of pupils, will be continually practiced. 
Insistent drill is necessary to break up the tendency to 
use the "run-on" sentence, poor subordination, the 
monotonous sequence of short sentences, lack of unity, 
coherence, and emphasis. Not too much attention 
should be given to these matters at first, for it is of 
paramount importance that both oral and written 
expression should be free. Find out the things they 
are familiar with ■ — What My Father Does, How I 
Spend My Saturdays, My First Experience in Selling 
Papers, How to Make a Footstool. It is hard to imagine 
a title too simple. Let the faults go for a time — you 
are interested in what the boy tells you, and your mani- 
fested interest will provoke a freer expression. The 
time to correct the grammar may be postponed until 
the second theme. The first one — most wisely writ- 
ten in class — is just for priming purposes. 

Exactly the same principles apply to the oral com- 
position. Create an atmosphere of free expression 
where the stress falls upon substance. Let the boys 
and girls first talk about what they have learned in the 
street, around their own home, on the farm, in their 



ADJUSTMENT OF THE ENGLISH COURSE 277 

classrooms, on the cars, on the fishing-boats. The 
time and methods of correction may be considered 
later. We are interested most in substance; to stimu- 
late thinking is of first importance. Rigorous atten- 
tion to form will of course follow, and mastery of this 
requires the most incessant drill. 

The time necessary for the drill that secures reason- 
able attainment in the mastery of mechanical correct- 
ness in oral and written composition necessarily limits 
somewhat the time that English teachers in the com- 
mercial, technical, and vocational high schools would 
like to give to literature. It is accordingly not uncom- 
mon to see that the major amount of time — four 
fifths or more in extreme cases — is allotted to oral 
and written composition. Where a considerable part 
of the drill in mechanics is shared by teachers of 
other branches — a policy that every school adminis- 
trator should rigorously demand — a larger propor- 
tion of time can be devoted to the literature. 

■ Time spent on the literature is not only valuable in 
contributing indirectly to the improvement in oral and 
written composition of the pupils; it is of inestimable 
worth in raising their intellectual ideals and in urging 
them to a higher ethical plane. The current policy of 
most of our English teachers who are working in com- 
mercial, technical, and vocational high schools is to 
expend every effort to develop in their pupils a genu- 
ine appreciation of good books — not merely the books 
that are directly connected with a selected vocation, 



278 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

but the books that incite to a broader outlook and to 
an enlarged vision. These boys and girls should not 
merely be encouraged to read these books; they should 
be encouraged to own them. Before them may be 
placed the vision that John Kendrick Bangs portrays: 

The man with a library of his own is never alone, not even 
in the deep isolation of the desert. The figures that walk 
the pages of the books become his companions, always at 
hand, always ready to enact, and to enact again as many 
times as need be, the story that delights, moves, comforts, 
or instructs. One acquires, through his possessions in books, 
companionship with the great masters of romance, of poetry, 
of adventure, of glorious emprises, of life itself. Who would 
not have known Emerson, or Carlyle, or Thackeray, or 
Dickens, or Byron, or Shelley, or Milton, or Shakespeare, if 
he could? Who to-day would decline to meet the buoyant 
Tarkington, the romantic Fernold, the inspiring Galsworthy, 
the keen-visioned Bennett, the manly Doyle, or that gentle 
spirit, Barrie? Who would have turned his back on Steven- 
son? Who would turn away from a feast of the wits with Shaw 
and Chesterton, or from a flow of the soul with Noyes, or 
Masefield, or Rabindranath Tagore, if opportunity offered 
for either joyous adventure? Certainly not I, nor you either, 
you who read these lines — and they all await you, giving 
generously of themselves, as do all the other creators in 
prose and poetry, in their books, which you may have almost 
for the asking. 

Before boys and girls can be brought to see the truth 
and the beauty of this vision, each teacher will have to 
study his individual problems with extreme care and 
acquire the courage to abandon or reconstruct some 
of his own cherished ideas. Experience will convince 
him of at least six facts: — 



ADJUSTMENT OF THE ENGLISH COURSE 279 

1. Books designed for grammar grades may wisely 
be read in the high schools. 

2. Books previously read in the earlier years of the 
high school should be transferred to the later 
years. 

3. Books that recount the success of individual lives 
make a special appeal. 

4. Editions elaborately annotated — especially with 
long and frequent philological comments — 
should not be chosen. 

5. Literary selections with many mythological and 
literary allusions prove unsatisfactory. 

6. Volumes of short selections of prose and poetry 
are of great value. 

The principles just expressed have been worked out 
in detail by Mr. Samuel Thurber, head of the English 
department in the Newton Technical High School. To 
him I am indebted for the following comment and for 
the appended list of books which his practical experi- 
ence has approved. 

In common with many teachers of English in commercial 
and vocational schools, I have found boys and girls engaged 
in technical work generally less mature than pupils of the 
same age preparing for college. Even when fifteen or seven- 
teen years of age, they keenly enjoy books for children. 
Many of these pupils have not yet passed the fairy -story age. 
The gulf between their natural tastes and the classics of a 
college preparatory course is too wide to be bridged by the 
most skillful teaching. Their limited vocabulary and their 
unfamiliarity with anything but the simplest sentence struc- 
ture, make it almost impossible for them to study with profit 
Macaulay, Milton, Burke, Ruskin, or Carlyle. Page after 



280 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

page of these authors, even with the aid of notes and glos- 
sary, is a blank. What they do not understand they cannot 
enjoy; and their power of understanding is often limited 
beyond the comprehension of the young teacher fresh from 
a college course in literature and composition. 

I have little sympathy with those extremists who believe 
only in the "practical," those whose watchword is "busi- 
ness English," and who would banish from commercial and 
vocational high schools every book that is real literature. 
Such an attitude is not merely radical; it is narrow and un- 
pedagogic in the extreme. We differentiate the English 
course of boys and girls in technical high schools very largely 
on account of their abilities. We should give them books to 
read that are within their comprehension, and thus within 
their power of enjoyment. If a boy fails in Latin, we no 
longer believe that he will fail in everything on the high- 
school curriculum. In the same way, a boy who fails utterly 
to understand and enjoy Milton and Macaulay, may thor- 
oughly enjoy and do good work in Stevenson, Dickens, 
Scott, and many of the books which we have selected for 
our work in literature. In the clerical, business, and fine- 
arts courses of our school we make our selections from the 
lists which follow. With class of ordinary ability five or six 
books are studied, and three or four more read less inten- 
sively during a year. 

Freshman Year 

Francillon, Gods and Heroes. 1 
Church, Stories of the Old World. (Ginn.) 
LowelL Jason's Quest. (Sanborn.) 1/ 
Hyde, School Speaker and Reader. (Ginn.) 
Bellamy, Open Sesame, vol. 2 V (Ginn.) 
Shakespeare, Julius Casar. v 
Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare. 
Scott, The Talisman. 

1 Gods and Heroes is required for all first-year pupils Julius 
Cwsar and The Talisman should be attempted with only the most 
capable classes. 



ADJUSTMENT OF THE ENGLISH COURSE 281 

Stevenson, Treasure Island. 
Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn. 
Whittier, Ballads and Narrative Poems. 
Jewett, Short stories (ten). (Houghton.) 
Aldrich, Stories and Poems. (Houghton.) t/ 

, Ouida, Dog of Flanders and The Number g Stove. 

(Houghton.) 
Ruskin, King of the Golden River. " 
Dickens, Christmas Carol and Cricket on the Hearth. 
Wyss, Swiss Family Robinson. (Ginn.) 
Bulfinch, Age of Fable. (Crowell.) 
Arabian Nights. Selections, ^x 
T. N. Page, Eight stories. (Scribners.) 
F. C. Coe, Heroes of Every Day Life. (Ginn.) 
Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper. (Harpers.) 
Edith Horton, A Group of Famous Women. (Heath.) 
Baldwin, An American Book of Golden Deeds. 

(American Book Co.) 
Mabie, Heroes Every Child Should Know. (Doubleday.) 

Sophomore Year 

Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer' 
Night's Dream. ^ - j 

Scott, Ivanhoe (abridged) and The Lady of the Lake. 
*~ Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer. 

Gayley, The Poetry of the People. 1 (Ginn.) 
. Bolton, Girls Who Became Famous. (Crowell.) 

Parton, Captains of Industry. (Houghton.) 

Lane, Industries of To-day. (Ginn.) 

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe.' 

Moores, Life of Lincoln. (Houghton.) 

Van Dyke, Stories, Essays, and Poems.^ (Scribners.) 

Malory, Stories of King Arthur. (Houghton.) 

Irving, Tales of a Traveler. *""' 

Kipling, Captains Courageous. (Century.) 

1 Divisions of boys should, as a rule, read The Poetry of the People 
and either Captains of Industry or Industrie of To-day. 



282 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

H. F. Smith, Life of Captain Scott. (Am. Unitarian Asso., 
Boston.) 

Richards, Life of Florence Nightingale! (Appleton.) 
" Scott, Quentin Durward. 

Lowell, Vision of Sir Launfal. ' 

B. T. Washington, Up From Slavery. (Burt.) 



Junior Year 

Franklin, Autobiography. 

Irving, The Sketch-Book" and Bracebridge Hall. 1 

(Houghton.) 
Cooper, The Spy. 

Hawthorne, Twice-Told Tales (ten). ' 
Long, American Poems. (American Book Co.) 
Longfellow, Poems. v 
Poe, Short stories (six or eight). 
Stevenson, Kidnapped. (Macmillan.) 
Burroughs, Warner, Thoreau (essays). (Houghton.) 
Lincoln, Speeches and Letters, with Schurz's Essay. 

(Houghton.) 
Washington, Farewell Address and Webster's Bunker Hill 1/ 
Oration. 

Roosevelt, Essays, Biographies, etc. (Scribners.) 

Hersey, To Girls. (Ginn.) 

Laselle and Wiley, Vocations for Girls. (Houghton.) 

Scudder, Life of Washington. (Houghton.) 

Irving, Life of Goldsmith. 

Palgrave, Golden Treasury. 

Selected, short stories, American and English. 

S. E. Forman, Stories of Useful Inventions. (Century.) 

Rupert S. Holland, Historic Girlhoods. (Jacobs.) 

Charles Morris, Heroes of Progress in America. 

(Lippincott.) 

1 Bracebridge Hall, when read, should follow the Sketch-Boole. 
To Girls and Vocations for Girls, are suggested as outside reading for 
all Clerical and Fine-Arts girls. 



.ADJUSTMENT OF THE ENGLISH COURSE 283 

Senior Year 

Shakespeare, Macbeth and As You Like It. 
- Eliot, Silas Marner. 1 '^ . t — - i^- 

Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and Hard 



Times. 



*/ 



■ Blackmore, Lorna Doone. 

Kingsley, Westward Hoi (abridged). (Newson.) ^ 

Goldsmith, The Deserted Village and The Vicar of Wake- 
field. 

Tennyson, Idylls of the King*aaA Enoch Arden. 

Coleridge, The Ancient Mariner. u 

O. S. Marden, The Young Man Entering Business. 

(Crowell.) 

O. S. Marden, Choosing a Career. (Crowell.) 

Greene, Coal and the Coal Mines. (Houghton.) 

Lane, Triumphs of Science. (Ginn.) 

Narrative Poems and Ballads. (Macmillan.) 

Burns, Poems (selected). 

Wordsworth, Poems (selected). 

Macaulay, Life of Johnson. '" 
- Milton, shorter poems. 

Palmer, Self -Cultivation in English. (Houghton.) 

Scott, Marmion. 

Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies. 1 

Lubbock, Pleasures of Life. (Burt.) 

H. E. Paine, Girls and Women. (Houghton.) 

Business. Vol. IV in Vocations. Edited by Andrew 
Carnegie. (Hall & Locke.) 

Home Making. Vol. II in Vocations. Edited by Marion 
Harland. (Hall & Locke.) 

The Mechanic Arts. Vol. I in Vocations. Edited by R. C. 
McLaurin. (Hall & Locke.) 

In reacting against the books of acknowledged liter- 

1 Sesame and Lilies, Milton, Macaulay, and Marmion are intended 
primarily for the college preparatory pupils. At least two novels 
should be required as outside reading in connection with Silas 
Marner and A Tale of Two Cities. Macbeth, as a rule, should be read 
at least in part, with all classes. 



284 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

ary merit and prestige, the authorities in technical, 
industrial, and vocational schools may easily go too 
far. The very fact that many of these pupils have lived 
in an environment that has kept fancy and imagina- 
tion closely tethered, is in itself a reason for giving 
them ballads and fairy tales and poetry. We should, 
while giving them the material that will nourish their 
cruder present selves, be careful not to deny them the 
material that will nourish their finer potentialities. 
We shall especially remember the plea which patri- 
otism and the demands for a better socialization are 
constantly making, and we shall in our moments of 
deeper teaching insight implant ideals that will in 
their due fruition manifest themselves in a higher 
sense of honor and a cleaner citizenship. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE TRAINING OF THE ENGLISH TEACHER 

The preceding chapters of this book have set forth 
certain definite aims and values in English teaching, 
many of which are being realized in many of our 
American high schools and academies. In order that 
the best of these ideas may be made more prevalent, 
and in order that new ideas may be continually in- 
troduced into future English teaching, it is of prime 
importance that new generations of teachers be suc- 
cessively trained for the work. The present inquiry 
considers certain elements appropriate for this train- 
ing and also offers certain suggestions for continued 
training for those who have already had experience 
in the work. 

English teaching in the high school and college is just 
as difficult a task — when that ask is rightly conceived 
— as is the practice of law or of medicine. Because of 
this fact and because the best authorities are rapidly 
coming to a realization of this fact, there comes to the 
prospective English teacher this very practical ques- 
tion: What preparation shall I make for my profes- 
sion? 

By many who are now teaching English, this ques- 
tion has never been seriously considered. Too many 



286 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

young teachers in the past have simply drifted into 
the work because it seemed to them the path of least 
resistance; the vague and indefinite demands of the 
English field seemed to them more alluring than the 
accuracy and exactitude imposed by science, mathe- 
matics, and the foreign languages. 

Now, while the nature of English study is such that 
vagueness and indefiniteness are always and inevi- 
tably present, we have, during the past decade, made 
considerable advance both in clarifying our aims and 
in learning and adopting methods that will secure some 
of the more important pre-visioned results. To be sure, 
many of us who have been long in this English service 
have had lingering moments of misgiving, lingering 
moments of doubt. Empiricism has taught us some- 
thing; scientific method has added its modicum to our 
store; yet in our more skeptical mood we have sighed 
with Tauler, the Strasburg preacher, and have ad- 
mitted that while teaching others we ourselves have 
been blind. But out of this perplexity we have emerged 
to see that some of those tasks willed in our hours of 
insight have, in the hours of our gloom, been success- 
fully performed. 

Many English teachers now in the service will, in 
thinking back through their experience, see many 
paths fruitlessly pursued, many opportunities neg- 
lected. Were those experienced teachers to offer 
guidance to those planning to teach English, what 
would be the advice — general and specific — which 
they would give? 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 287 

An early love for reading 

In the first place, we may assume that any one who 
considers English teaching a possible vocation has 
found, since childhood, an unusual pleasure in reading. 
Fortunate, indeed, if this reading has been so wisely 
directed in the home as to include legend and fairy- 
story and all that imaginative folk-lore that repre- 
sents the thought of the race in its earlier infancy. 
Fortunate, too, if in his school career there have been 
constantly present some teachers of deep and pervad- 
ing sympathy, who, being able to see beyond form and 
routine, have imparted to the interpretation of the 
reading selection the spirit that originally dictated the 
creation. 

Worthy of special mention in this group there should 
stand out with marked distinction the work of the 
high-school teacher of English. For the more we study 
the adolescent period, the more we appreciate the deli- 
cacy of its influence — its sensitiveness to evil and its 
sensitiveness to good. The teacher who first opened 
my own eyes to the real message of poetry was one 
who in my fourteenth year carefully explained to me 
the meaning of the opening stanzas of Tennyson's 
In Memoriam. Behind the merely intellectual inter- 
pretation lay the vitalizing impact with that teacher's 
spiritual self. To that directing influence in my train- 
ing for English teaching I revert with special gratitude. 
It was an unconscious step toward this pleasureful 
vocation. 



288 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Power to speak and write well 

Let us assume, in the second place, that in addition 
to a love of reading possessed by every one who elects 
to teach English, there should be a self-demanded 
power to speak and write well. And this speaking and 
writing power, as we are now thinking of it, implies far 
more than mere correctness. It demands originality 
in conception and individuality in execution. While it 
need not follow Milton nor Wordsworth nor Carlyle 
into their loftiest heights, or into their deepest depths, 
it must, on the other hand, show a range uncompassed 
by him who dwells constantly within the unadorned 
and sterile croft of the commonplace. The English 
teacher must therefore be enough of an artificer to 
reverence the artist. When he lives through an in- 
teresting experience he must acquire the ability to 
reproduce it, in oral or written form, in such a way 
as to give pleasure to others. He must infuse it 
with his own interest, he must make the details stand 
out vividly, he must mould it in well-rounded com- 
pleteness. And the power which he acquires in nar- 
ration must be carried over into the other forms of 
discourse; he should learn to describe accurately, to 
explain clearly, to convince fully. With this com- 
mand of our language he will make himself an uncon- 
scious power in the classroom, for he will make his 
pupils covet his skill and unconsciously attain some 
of his power. 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 289 

Preparation in college 

But when we think of training for English teaching 
we naturally think of the tasks which we deliberately 
and concretely can set about performing in order to 
prepare ourselves for our specific work. Fondness for 
reading and ability to speak and to write with a cer- 
tain amount of individual distinction we have perhaps 
unconsciously acquired; and we accept these as a part 
of our unanalyzed background. We merge them with 
the chaos and the cosmos that experience and maturity 
and general education have brought to us from all the 
various paths that converge into that period that 
immediately precedes, let us say. the first year of col- 
lege — paths that bring consignments so "various, so 
beautiful, so new'* — and so diametric to each of 
these — that we should find them all-impossible of 
inventory. Granted that we have now come to the 
college with all this acquisition of past years; granted, 
too, that we have made up our minds to teach high- 
school English — what subjects shall we choose? 

Our general answer to this problem is a very simple 
one. We should choose for our first three years those 
courses that would produce a well-rounded education. 
The bases would with most of us naturally be mathe- 
matics, science, language, history, and philosophy. The 
individual preference should be allowed to assert itself, 
the personalities of certain professors should be strong 
determining factors in selection; but none of the larger 



290 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

and more important branches of study should be 
omitted. 

Remembering that breadth of sympathy and catho- 
licity of taste are essential to the successful interpreta- 
tion and imparting of the truths of literature, the pro- 
spective English teacher should be particularly careful 
not to ignore those college courses which seem far aloof 
from his own natural predilection. As a class we Eng- 
lish teachers are predisposed toward the humanities, 
but this predisposition should not blind us to the im- 
portance of mechanical and technical studies. Ac- 
quaintance with the kind of knowledge acquired in 
pursuing these courses will create a breadth of sym- 
pathy that will make us more resourceful and more 
sympathetic in our later teaching. 

This is likewise true of science. Many teachers feel 
this strongly, not from a knowledge of science, but 
from a lack of such knowledge. Brief courses in chem- 
istry, physics, and astronomy were insufficient to give 
them adequate aid — they constantly feel the meager- 
ness of their scientific background. On the other hand, 
the little that they learned has been of appreciable and 
constant service. 

Personally I keenly regret that a course in elemen- 
tary botany, begun with the idea that it would increase 
my knowledge of plants and plant life, proved almost 
useless. Daily and prolonged examination of the cell- 
life of mosses was not inspiring to one whose primary 
interest lay in the humanities. The experience sug- 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 291 

gests that great care should be exercised in the choice 
of scientific courses. If the course is so "scientific" as 
to be far aloof from common knowledge and the com- 
mon life of nature, then the prospective teacher of 
English should carefully avoid it. Such study is too 
technical to be of economic service in the English class- 
room. 

Courses in philosophy are less likely to lose them- 
selves in technical barrenness. Moreover, they are so 
intimately connected with the literary thought of pre- 
ceding ages that no student can understand one with- 
out studying the other. Not to know Plato, Aristotle, 
Socrates, Bacon, Descartes, Kant, Spencer, Bergson, 
and James is to be unacquainted with the important 
thoughts that compose the woven fabric of literature. 
Indeed, some of the men known to the world of philoso- 
phy are equally well-known to the world of literature. 
Shall we think of Emerson and Carlyle as literary 
philosophers or as philosophical litterateurs? 

And we must not think of limiting ourselves to an- 
cient philosophy, metaphysics, or transcendentalism 
— types suggested perhaps by the names just men- 
tioned. We must enlarge our conception; we must 
make it more modern. To aid us in understanding the 
complicated life that we are living, to aid us in offering 
our students the help they will themselves need in 
making their civic and ethical environment purer and 
more stimulating, we must acquaint ourselves as in- 
timately as possible with the current trend in civics, 
ethics, sociology, diplomacy, and history. 



292 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

We cannot take time in college to go deeply into all 
of these — perhaps not deeply into any one of them. 
But we should get from the college classroom and from 
college comradeship the impetus that will make our 
future study of related inquiry more enthusiastic and 
more intelligent. We should learn to feel that only by 
willingness to assume the responsibility of the study 
of these questions shall we be equipped to teach our 
students such truths as will enable them to meet 
wisely and courageously the problems that they, as 
members of a democracy, will be called upon to 
solve. 

The English teacher, more than any other teacher 
in the high school, is capable of becoming a stimulat- 
ing mentor for his pupils. In his office of interpreter 
of fiction, essay, and poetry, he meets directly or in- 
directly most of the problems that have vexed or are 
vexing the world. And while it is of course idle for us 
to assume that he can solve these perplexities, he can 
direct and stimulate thought that may in time lead to 
a broader view and to a firmer conviction. By a frank 
expression of a firm belief in some basic moral truth, 
the English teacher may invigorate some drooping 
faith or correct some dangerous misconceptions. But 
to do this convincingly he must summon from his 
store-house of knowledge the wiser views of the best 
thinkers — ancient and modern. Ability to do this 
can come only through deep study and wide reading. 

History needs most careful attention — more espe- 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 293 

cially as the best of our college courses now present it 
from its philosophical viewpoint. We trace in such 
study the thoughts and movements of the race, and we 
therein detect the same forces that give character and 
direction to our literature. As Americans, we may 
know our own history fairly well, but as English teach- 
ers, we are too often woefully ignorant of the history 
of England; and without this knowledge we shall fail 
in our interpretation of English literature. Rather 
than rely upon future independent study and reading, 
we should in college take a rigid course in English his- 
tory — a course that will supply stimulus and intelli- 
gent guidance for a more economical study of history 
to continue after college and to parallel our English 
teaching. 

Perhaps the most helpful of all college courses, how- 
ever, will be the study of foreign languages. Latin and 
Greek, if not taken in high school, should be taken in 
college. The same is true of French and German. 
Both of these modern languages should be studied; 
one of them should be mastered — so mastered that 
the literature of the language may contribute to the 
cultural joy of the student and supply him with an 
equipment to be constantly augmented during the 
later years of teaching and reading. For we must for- 
ever bear in mind that the English teacher is to be a 
student all his life; he is to acquaint himself, so far as 
possible, with the best that is being said and thought 
in the world. And the mastery of another language will 



294 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

be one of the helpful agencies in leading the student 
into this invigorating influence. 

One of the very best ways to use this equipment is 
by concentration upon a single great masterpiece, 
such, for example, as Goethe's Faust. One teacher, 
in commenting on the value of a foreign-language 
course, once wrote: "I can think of no single study 
which has done so much to enrich my mind and deepen 
my understanding of literature and life as that of 
Dante, nor do I believe that I should have profited 
more, as a teacher, by substituting therefor one or 
several courses in nineteenth-century English litera- 
ture, composition, psychology, or pedagogy." 

Any one who has had the experience of studying one 
of these masterpieces in the original and another one 
in translation has felt by contrast the superior value of 
the original. But if a study of the originals is impossi- 
ble then by all means let us study them in translation. 
Experienced teachers have testified that the non- 
English course that helped them most was a course in 
the Greek drama, where they read in translations 
most of the plays of iEschylus, Sophocles, and Eu- 
ripides, and where they studied the structure of the 
plays with the help of Moulton's The Ancient Classical 
Drama. 

But we must not, as college students preparing to 
teach English, think only of the academic work. A 
misconception of the broader meaning of education 
often dims appreciation of the real value of things. 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 295 

We may make a fetish of the college course and irrev- 
erently ignore the worth of opportunities lying just 
outside the academic pale. Music and art clubs, the 
debating society, mock parliaments, the scribbler's 
coterie, amateur theatricals, the English Club — ac- 
tive participation in any one of these may give us a 
valuable impetus and secure stimulating criticism 
from our fellow students. And some of us are so con- 
stituted that we react more quickly to the lay criti- 
cism from the floor than to the ex-cathedra comment 
from the platform. Moreover, we learn from such ex- 
perience the relative value of individualism and collec- 
tivism — the necessity of preserving each personality 
but making it merge efficiently into a higher com- 
munity life. In the process of this experience we learn 
our limitations and our special powers. Knowledge of 
these powers should give us wisdom in applying their 
particular stress. 

And just as valuable, perhaps, will be the emphasis 
that we put upon our play. Are we not — we English 
teachers as a class — a bit prone to ignore athletics? 
Do we rate at their full value such diversions as base- 
ball, football, tramping, mountain-climbing, sailing, 
swimming, skating, and all those varying kinds of 
playing skill that win the admiration of youth and 
open an avenue for readier sympathy and consequent 
helpfulness? Later, when the college student is teach- 
ing English, it may be worth while for the students to 
know that their teacher's admiration for Shelley's 



296 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

poetry and Ruskin's prose is not inconsistent with 
that teacher's skill in playing tennis or throwing the 
discus, or marshaling men upon the chess-board. 

The person interested in English, and ambitious to 
become an English teacher, is not likely to make any 
serious mistakes in selecting the English courses of- 
fered in his chosen college. The whole freshman year 
is, in most institutions, pretty rigidly established and 
generally includes a thorough course in English, usu- 
ally emphasizing the work in composition. This ele- 
mentary course the prospective English teacher should 
take — not only for the sake of learning the theory 
taught but for the sake of studying the method pur- 
sued. Coincident with this course in composition there 
is frequently offered an outline course in the history of 
English literature. Such courses are too often of doubt- 
ful value; their benefit depends almost wholly upon 
the power of the instructor to stimulate intelligent 
reading and enlarge his students' uses of the college 
library. A common mistake is to include too many 
literary men of minor importance and to exclude em- 
phasis upon literary movements. In some way, how- 
ever, the student should acquire that broad general 
information concerning the trend of English literature 
so that men and movements may be seen in their 
proper sequence and in their proper perspective; and 
for many freshmen the outline course is of rare and 
undoubted service. 

For the prospective English teacher the more ad- 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 297 

vanced composition courses are of unquestioned value. 
When intelligently and enthusiastically taught, they 
increase knowledge of the writing art — an art every 
English teacher should continue to cultivate — and 
they expose devices and methods which the student 
may later adopt in his own composition teaching. It 
is significant, however, that in an investigation con- 
ducted by the New England Association of Teachers 
of English, 1 the answers to a broadly distributed ques- 
tionnaire disclosed a far more frequently expressed in- 
debtedness for the literature courses rather than for 
the composition courses. 

When the student comes to choose the literature 
courses, he will, in our larger colleges, be confronted 
with an embarrassment of riches. If he is analytical 
enough to realize his own deficiencies in training, he 
will first select those courses which will best bulwark 
his individual weaknesses. He will also be governed 
by the varying personalities of the English staff. 
Again he should generally choose recitation courses 
rather than lecture courses, for the recitation courses 
more naturally supply practical methods suited to 
future classroom use. 

Aside from these considerations, however, there are 
certain authors that should be carefully studied. The 
most important, of course, are Chaucer, Shakespeare, 
Milton, Pope, Wordsworth, Carlyle, Browning, and 
Tennyson. And these should not be studied for their 
1 The English Leaflet, No. 117. 



298 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

works merely; they should be studied in relationship 
to the times in which they lived, the movements they 
helped to further, and the general influence which they 
exerted upon their contemporaries and upon the future 
trend of literature. 

A phase of English work too frequently ignored is 
the study of American literature. Too often we falsely 
assume that the work in the grammar grades and high 
school has supplied adequate training and informa- 
tion concerning our American authors. Here, how- 
ever, the work is necessarily too selective and frag- 
mentary to give the student sufficient knowledge for 
valuation and contrast. He should, therefore, plan 
to take a thorough course in American literature — a 
course that will acquaint him with the men and the 
movements that have given force and distinction to our 
national literary life. 

Another phase of English study too frequently ig- 
nored is the study of the English language. No long 
training and no involved study is necessary, but the 
teacher should know something of Anglo-Saxon, 
Greek, and Latin, and how these and other elements 
have combined to give strength, flexibility, and beauty 
to our language. While it is not necessary to establish 
in the high school a special course in etymology it is 
desirable that incidentally the more important and the 
more interesting facts should early be brought to the 
attention of the pupils — facts important and inter- 
esting enough to stimulate a wholesome curiosity and 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 299 

open up avenues for the pupil's future study and fu- 
ture pleasure. 

Comparatively few colleges have yet perceived their 
opportunities for the professional training of English 
teachers; but just as the prospective lawyers, doctors, 
and ministers feel this need, so English teachers are 
beginning to feel it and to recognize its importance. 
It is, of course, true that many can teach well without 
such training, but these would doubtless teach excel- 
lently with it. It is likewise true that many who would 
take such courses would fail in the schoolroom ■ — the 
best possible training cannot overcome natural inapt- 
itude for teaching. 

Whether training courses for high-school teachers 
of English should be under the supervision of the 
department of Education or under the department of 
English is an open question. There is also difference 
of opinion as to whether the chief instruction should 
be given by college teachers or by high-school teachers. 
The best results would probably be secured through 
the adoption of some plan by which the three points of 
view could be presented. And inasmuch as the stu- 
dent has presumably been for three years within the 
immediate atmosphere of the college and has naturally 
come to possess certain idealistic standards that would 
make somewhat difficult an immediate adjustment 
from advanced college work to elementary secondary 
work, the view-point of the high-school teacher would 
offer more practical aid and develop more immediate 



300 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

resourcefulness. But the course would gain in value if 
supplemented by lectures and talks from the college 
professor of Education and English — lectures and 
talks that would broaden the outlook and at the same 
time provide a firmer base. Such a triangular course 
would supply the young teacher with the refuge of 
authority and provide a secure feeling of confidence 
during his empirical years of teaching. 

Practice teaching 

But theory needs to be supplemented by practice. 
Some of the colleges which offer such courses as we 
have been describing, provide opportunity for con- 
current teaching in the neighboring high schools. Here 
the work is jointly supervised by the college and the 
school. The student has the advantage of seeing the 
school in its normal aspect and to test the adjustment 
of theory to practice. Too frequently, however, the 
practice teaching is too short and fragmentary to se- 
cure the best results. The senior who could start his 
practice teaching in the fall and continue it through 
the year would find the cumulative effect of great edu- 
cational value. He would enter the school with more 
individual prestige and he would not subject himself 
to the immediate contrast with experienced teaching. 

If a person can take a full year for training, one of 
the best methods is the. English assistant's work as 
developed in some of our high schools. The policy 
generally pursued is to take a college graduate without 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 301 

experience, pay her a salary equal to a good fellowship 
in college, assign her a light teaching schedule and a 
large amount of theme correcting and give both kinds 
of work close supervision. The possibilities of such 
training are voiced by a teacher, who for a year was 
the special assistant in English at the Newton High 
School: — ■ 

" Heads of departments in high schools cannot real- 
ize too fully their rare equipment as teachers of peda- 
gogy. In the midst of the work themselves, they can 
give most helpful training to an inexperienced teacher 
in their department. Large schools might well estab- 
lish a tradition of apprentices, taking each year a col- 
lege girl without experience, entrusting to her a class 
or two, and making her sufficiently useful in theme 
correcting and general assistant duties. Carried out 
with the deliberate purpose of training the apprentice, 
this method has possibilities limited only by the mis- 
sionary spirit of the experienced teachers in the de- 
partment. As the plan is usually managed at Newton, 
the assistant is allowed to visit the classes of the ex- 
pert teachers, and to attend frequent department 
meetings. She is a specialist in theme correcting. 
Direct supervision from the head of the department 
is made possible by her limited schedule. Since two 
freshmen classes are her only portion, she has limited 
opportunity of doing lasting harm to the school sys- 
tem; and since her position is subordinate, she can 
work out her first year's problems without the dis- 



302 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

traction of varied responsibilities. The two groups of 
freshmen, on the other hand, offer ample material for 
testing her resourcefulness. The inspiration of asso- 
ciation with enthusiastic teachers, and the advantages 
of skilled criticism and suggestion are hers. The fact 
that she gains her training through a genuine connec- 
tion with the school makes the experience of more 
value than the artificial situation of the temporary 
'practice teacher.'" l 

Summer-school courses 

Most teachers now in service have had neither the 
opportunities for such work as this nor for the kind 
of professional training and practice-teaching that we 
have already described. To meet the need which these 
teachers are feeling, the colleges should more and 
more, through summer-school courses, seek to provide 
such training. The course should be conducted as a 
seminar and the work center around three phases of 
English work: grammar, composition, and literature. 

The practical value of technical grammar should be 
discussed in its various phases. In composition, the 
students of the course should write themes to be cor- 
rected by one another and by the instructor in charge. 
The class might discuss such topics as the relative 
value of themes based on literature and of themes 
based on experience, the number of themes to be writ- 
ten during a school year, the question of rewriting 
1 See The English Leaflet, No. 117. 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 303 

themes, the comparative value of the long and the 
short themes, the best methods for the eradication of 
specific types of errors, the handling of oral composi- 
tion work and the relative time to be spent upon it. 

In dealing with literature the class might take for 
practical study and recitation, types of the various 
selections common to the high-school course — lyric 
forms, a drama, an essay, a short story, and a novel. 
By taking these up in a manner similar to the way 
they would be taken up in a high-school course, the 
students would get conceptions of the general method 
of treatment, the types of questions to be asked, and 
the devices by which new interest may be aroused. 
Such practical questions as the handling of outside 
reading, the relative attention to be paid to modern 
and to classic literature, the use of magazines, care in 
giving assignments, the high-school play, the mastery 
of new words and allusions — these and a score of re- 
lated topics could be formally and informally dis- 
cussed. Freedom in asking questions and willingness 
to contribute personal experience would add largely 
to the helpfulness of the course. 

The course should be designed for teachers who 
would be interested in a detailed consideration of cer- 
tain specific problems that arise in the teaching of sec- 
ondary English. Some of the more vital problems are 
mentioned in the list which follows : — 

A Study of Composition Scales; The Approach toward 
Uniformity in the Grading of Themes; The Measurement of 



304 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

Results; Establishing Specific Aims with Specific Literary 
Selections; Minimum Standards for Each High-School 
Grade; Psychology as an Aid to English Teaching; The 
Place of Grammar in the High School; Specific Methods for 
Increasing a Pupil's Vocabulary; Specific Methods for In- 
creasing Variety and Elaboration of Sentence Forms; Super- 
vised Study of English; The Equipment and Functions of 
the English Supervisor; The School Play; School Debating; 
The Separation of Composition and Literature Courses; 
Cooperation with Other Departments; Cooperation and 
Articulation with the Grammar School; Devices to Arouse 
Interest in Composition; Certain Phases of Oral Composi- 
tion; Encouraging Pupils to Write Poetry; Motion Pictures; 
The Book-Club; High-School Journalism; The Bible in the 
English Course; The English Teacher's Laboratory Equip- 
ment; The Conference Period; Planning an English Course 
for the Junior High School; The Magazine and Newspaper in 
the Classroom; The High School Library; The Classics in 
Translation; Voice Culture; What We Can Learn from the 
French Methods of Teaching French; Ethical and Social 
Values of the Literature Selection; ^Esthetic Values through 
Oral Interpretation. 

Continued professional interest 
Once in the service of English teaching we should 
take every means to increase the general professional 
advancement of our craft. By conferences within our 
own school, by discussion groups formed by interested 
cooperators within a larger local area, by state and dis- 
trict associations — by participation in this profes- 
sional work we can not only advance our own interest 
in the work but we can also stimulate others and thus 
serve to increase the efficiency of our own classroom 
work and the ultimate demands of the community. 
It is especially desirable that each English teacher 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 305 

should become a member of the National Council of 
Teachers of English and by active participation in this 
organization keep in touch with the most advanced 
thinking in the teaching of English. If we are so situ- 
ated that we cannot be regular in our attendance at 
the various meetings of the Council, we can neverthe- 
less acquaint ourselves with the work it is doing; for 
its proceedings are fully reported in the pages of The 
English Journal. But this journal is far more than 
the official organ of the National Council. Under the 
efficient editorship of Mr. James F. Hosic it has be- 
come recognized as the great national clearing house 
of current movements in the English-teaching world, 
and that teacher who would keep himself in thorough 
professional training must be a diligent reader of its 
pages. 

But whatever the previous means or method of 
our training in English teaching, the best that a 
teacher can learn is in actual contact with his work. 
Here he will, in all likelihood, be thrown into close re- 
lationship with other teachers of wide experience and 
varied opinions. He will learn from his reading in cur- 
rent leaflets and journals many new ways of meeting 
the daily problems of the classroom. But his greatest 
teacher will be his own classroom experience. How to 
stimulate each of the inert, how to direct the energies 
of the vigorous minded into the most fruitful individ- 
ual field, how to develop personality while working 
under routine, how to cling fast to all the good in the 



306 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH 

old and yet keep his vision open to the new — these 
and a score of other problems are the constant and 
stimulating companions of that teacher who would be 
the guide, philosopher, and friend of each pupil under 
his tutelage. 



APPENDIX 

A LIST OF THEME TOPICS 

The divisions here used are not mutually exclusive, and 
some of the topics listed in one division might with perfect 
propriety be listed in another division. But as the purpose of 
the list is to stimulate interest and to arouse latent power, 
the details of the division are of secondary importance. What 
we wish to secure is vitality in composition work, and this is 
most readily secured by an appeal to the personal. 

I. IN WHICH "I" AM THE CENTER OF INTEREST 

(a) Experience 

1. How I Poisoned the Family. 

2. That Furnace of ours. 

3. Sleeping Three in a Bed. 

4. An Insane Fourth. 

5. My Narrowest Escape. 

6. My First Hero-Worship. 

7. The Old Carriage House. 

8. When One Made a Quarrel. 

9. What I Found in the Barn. 

10. Heroine- Worship. 

11. A Near- Adventure. 

12. The First Time I Went to the Theater. 

13. That Golf Ball. 

14. A Cool Reception. 

15. The Meanest Thing I ever Did. 

16. Initiation Night. 

17. The Funniest Accident. 

18. Being a Pirate. 

19. Buying a Ticket for the World's Series. 

20. When my Teacher was Wrong. 

21. On the School Special. 

22. The Circus in our Barn. 

23. When I was a Newsboy. 



308 APPENDIX 

24. A Dramatic Performance in our Attic. 

25. The Trials of an Amateur Photographer. 

26. Controlling my Temper. 

27. Managing Mother. 

28. Gross Neglect. 

29. Purposeful Delays. 

30. Missing my Boat. 

31. Buying an Article I did not Want. 

32. Shopping on a Rainy Day. 

33. My First Experience in a Sleeping-Car. 

34. Sleeping out in the Winter. 

35. Sleeping under Difficulties. 

36. Rowing with a Broken Oar. 

37. Solid Comfort Rudely Disturbed. 

38. The Greatest Fear of my Childhood Days. 

39. My First Real Conquest. 

40. My Air-Castle Bombarded. 

41. Tending the Baby. 

42. An Illustration of my Tactlessness. 

43. A Day at the County Fair. 

44. When my Flash-Light Proved its Worth. 

45. Out for a Lark. 

46. Following the Blazed Trail. 

47. When I Tried Gardening for Profit. 

48. A Ride in an Ice-Boat. 

49. Learning to Skate. 

50. The Perils of the Razor. 

51. Fighting with a Storm at Sea. 

52. Christening the Boat. 

53. Getting Acquainted with a New Neighbor. 

54. Winning Popularity at a Stroke. 

55. Overheard in the Street-Car. 

56. Water Day at Camp. 

57. A Golf Lesson. 

58. My Experience as a Caddy. 

59. Killing Time. 

60. Moored on the Mud Flats. 

61. An Unexpected Holiday. 

62. "It never Rains but it Pours." 

63. With the Country Doctor on his Rounds. 

64. Buying a Hat with the Help of Three Brothers. 

65. Racing with a Pushmobile. 

66. Undeserved Praise. 



APPENDIX 309 

67. The Minute that Changed my Day. 

68. My First Bargain. 

69. The Unlooked-for Consequences of my Lie. 

70. What my Honesty Cost me. 

71. Ambitions that Others have Had for me. 

72. The Most Satisfactory Conversation I ever Had. 

73. Reminiscences on Seeing my Shoes in a Row. 

74. My Gold Crown. 

75. A Joke that Fell Flat. 

76. My Experiences as a Cook. 

77. When I had my Fortune Told. 

78. Squelching my Brother. 

79. Eating at a "Quick Lunch." 

80. "I've just Washed my Hair and I can't Do a Thing with it." 

81. An Unpleasant Animal, the Midnight Welsh Rabbit. 

82. My First Appearance in Long Trousers. 

83. Skating upon Thin Ice. 

84. My First Ride in a Jitney. 

85. Eating at a Chinese Restaurant. 

86. The Run on my Bank. 

87. While Ladling the Soup. 

88. When I was "Absolutely Prepared." 

89. How I Outlived the Reputation of my Childhood. 

90. How I Entertained a "Celebrity." 

91. The Worst Break I ever Made. 

92. Leaping before you Look. 

93. Riding in a Pung. 

94. Trying to Grow Thin. 

95. Making Hay when the Sun Won't Shine. 

96. Striking when the Iron is Cold. 

97. People in Glass Houses should Look out for Stones. 

98. Singing in a Male Quartette. 

99. Being an Amateur Detective. 

100. Putting One's Foot in and Getting it out. 

101. An Adventure, and a Floor- Walker. 

102. Learning the Code. 

103. The Time I did not have to Pay the Price. 

104. Scene: A Haymound. 

105. A Seedless Garden. 

106. The Time, the Place, — and the Blow-out. 

107. Adventures with a Balking Horse. 

108. When the Lights Went out. 

109. Where I "Got off." 



310 APPENDIX 

110. Making Change. 

111. A Rod in Pickle. 

112. Locked out of my Own House. 

113. Trying to Get into the House without Making a Noise. 

114. How I Astonished the Neighbors. 

115. The Time I Tried to Use a New Word. 

116. Trying to Lose a Pair of Gloves. 

117. Stuffing the Thanksgiving Turkey. 

118. A Day in a Submarine. 

119. My Best Fish Story. 

120. The Key in the Latch. 

121. When my Intuition Played me False. 

122. Cramps when Swimming. 

123. Guaranteed Hole-Proof. 

124. Dressing the Cat in Dolls' Clothes. 

125. A Painful Subject to me. 

126. The Time I did not Give my Seat to a Lady. 

127. Washing the Kitten. 

128. My Funeral as Planned when I have been Misused. 

129. What I Heard at a Fruit-Stand. 

130. Our Last Husking-Bee. 

131. The Costume Ball. 

132. "The Sweetest Wine Makes the Sourest Vinegar." 

133. It Might Have Been. 

134. The Causes and Results of my First Quarrel. 

135. My Visit to an Artist. 

136. When the Waterpipe Burst on Sunday. 

137. A Visit to Chinatown. 

138. My Unlucky Day. 

139. The Time I was Sent to Bed Early. 

140. "Look out for the Paint!" 

141. Caught in the Act. 

142. What I Saw when I Looked down the Chimney. 

143. When I Forgot to Dust the Piano. 

144. My Visit to a Country School. 

145. The Day the Telephone was out of Order. 

146. How I Broke myself of Insomnia. 

147. How that Story Grew. 

148. What I Saved from the Fire. 

159. Why we have our Telephone on the Second Floor. 

150. The Time I Tried to be Quiet. 

151. I Amuse myself in Church: A Reminiscence. 

152. Barbed Wire Fences I have Met and Got over. 



APPENDIX 311 

153. Tragedies of my Childhood. 

154. My First College Ball Game. 

155. My First Dance. 

156. When Mother was away. 

157. To-morrow — as I should Like to Spend it. 

158. An Afternoon on my Front Porch. 

159. An Afternoon of Making Sunshine in my Home. 

160. My Busy Day. 

161. When I Took Gas. 

162. At the Photographer's. 

163. When Thirteen Proved to be my Lucky Number. 

164. My First Meal on a Diner. 

165. How I Felt during my Brother's Wedding. 

166. My First Formal Call. 

167. When my Pump Came off. 

168. A Day that was not Perfect. 
179. The Disadvantages of Lying. 

170. Mountains I have Climbed. 

171. "Vaulting Ambition, which O'erleaps itself." 

172. The Time I Disobeyed — and was Glad. 

(6) Situations and self-analysis 

173. Being an Only Son. 

174. The Period of Sand-Colored Socks. 

175. Confessions of an Ex-Snob. 

176. How the Moon Looks at Different Seasons. 

177. On Being Introduced to the Boy you're Mad at. 

178. The Sounds I Like to Hear at Night. 

179. The Joys of Wool-Gathering. 

180. A Day I should Like to Live over again. 

181. Alone in a Crowd. 

182. Before an Open Fire. 

183. Things I can Do without. 

184. Confessions of a Bluffer. 

185. My Feeling after a Visit to a Prison. 

186. Stars to which I have Hitched my Wagon. 

187. Poems I Enjoy. 

188. The Art of Being Lazy. 

189. Trials of an Only Daughter. 

190. The Sorrows of the Bashful Young Man. 

191. The Fun of Being Poor. 

192. Judging and Being Judged. 

193. Why I Want to Grow up. 



312 APPENDIX 

194. Why I don't Want to Grow up. 

195. The First Telegram I ever Sent. 

196. The Advantages of Smiling. 

197. My Thoughts when Practicing on the Piano. 

198. Why I don't Want to Give up my Seat in the Street-Car. 

199. When Some One Took my French Dictionary. 

200. Ghosts I should Like to Meet. 

201. On Being Told to Do Something just as I was Going to Doit. 

202. Exploding. 

203. On Fainting away. 

204. How I Felt when I was nearly Killed. 

205. Having a Dress Fitted. 

206. Posing for a Photograph. 

207. Being a Bull in a China-Shop. 

208. The Feeling of Responsibility. 

209. Autumn Moods. 

210. Pride of Ownership. 

211. Accounting for my School Grade. 

212. Lost in the Forest (or Cave). 

213. My Feelings in the Dark. 

214. How the First Snow-Storm Affects me. 

215. Sensations on Being Caught between Floors in an Elevator. 

216. When I Heard Three Distinct Knocks in the Wall in the 
Middle of the Night. 

217. An Account of my Opinion about Santa Claus. (May be varied 
ad libitum.) 

218. Apologies for my Extravagance in Shoes. (May be varied 
ad libitum.) 

219. My Superstitions. 

220. The Effect of Seeing a Blind Girl Play the Piano. 

221. Times when I Pity myself. 

222. How it Feels to be Extinguished. 

223. When I see Dumb Animals Abused. 

224. My Sense of Direction. 

225. Embarrassed by my Misspellings (or Bad Grammar). 

226. My First A. 

227. My Sensations after the First Day's Work on a Farm. 

228. At Graduation — "My Turn Next." 

229. Selling Tickets for the Charity Entertainment. 

230. Misgivings on My First Journey alone. 

231. Being caught Stealing Apples. 

232. Seeing my Picture in the Paper. 

233. My Feelings when Crossing an Icy Sidewalk. 



APPENDIX 313 

234. My Favorite Fault. 

235. My Most Famous Habit. 

236. Speculation upon Receiving a Mysterious Package. 

237. Sensations during a Fire Drill. 

238. Thoughts while in the Subway. 

239. Sensations before an Operation. 

240. Playing a Duet when my Partner seems a Minus Quantity. 

241. My First Poetic Inspiration. 

242. The Way my Worries Increase at Night. 

243. Why I always Want to Sew on Sunday. 

244. What I Think about when I am Alone. 

245. When I Boarded the Wrong Train. 

246. My Feeling when I was not Suitably Dressed. 

247. Playing Tennis with a Girl. 

248. Having a Rose Cold. 

249. The Christmas when I Got Six — (jack-knives, ties, etc.). 

250. Unable to Whistle. 

251. My Sensations when Soliciting Advertisements. 

252. Trying to be a Sunbeam. 

253. When I Ripped my Trousers. 

254. Waiting for the Bell to Ring on Oral Theme Day. 

255. How Different Kinds of Sound Affect me. 

256. Summoning a Headache. 

257. Framing Excuses. 

258. Reforming my Reading Tastes. 

259. My Thoughts when on a High Place. 

260. Going Back for a Forgotten Article. 

261. The Worst Predicament I was ever in. 

262. Teaching my Parents to Obey. 

263. Suffering from Another's Blunder. 

264. Interrupting Father. 

265. Excusing the Criminal. 

266. Being Taken for the President. 

267. When I Surprised myself by having Something to Say. 

268. When Some One Plays a Joke on me. 

269. When I See my First Report of the Year. 

270. Elevator Thoughts. 

271. The First Telegram I ever Received. 

272. Ordering Dinner from an Elaborate Menu Card. 

273. Poise on Receiving One's First Box of Candy. 

274. In Disgrace with my "Proper" Relatives. 

275. Concealing the Hole in my Stocking. 

276. Entertaining Angels Unaware. 



314 APPENDIX 

277. The Results of Taking the Wrong Dress-Suit Case. 

278. My Feeling about Death. 

279. My Sister's Fiance and I. 

280. How I Looked when the Minister Came to Call. 

281. Trying to Study when there is Company Downstairs. 

282. Unaccounted for — Two Cents. 

283. When Trying to Appear at my Best. 

284. Feelings upon Arriving at the Theater and Finding my 
Tickets are at Home. 

285. Awaiting the Dismissal Bell. 

286. When my Friend Asks for Frank Criticism. 

287. How I Feel when my Parents are away. ^ 

288. Choosing a Dance Partner. 

289. When our Favorite Visitor Comes. 

290. When that Caller Arrived. 

291. Talking to a Deaf Person. 

292. Studying with the Cat in your Lap. 

293. When our Neighbors Keep their Victrola Going. 

(c) Letters 

a. A letter in which I make suggestions concerning boys' books. 

b. You have visited the family of your best friend while the 
friend was abroad. Write to the friend telling about the stay 
with the family. 

c. Your friend's mother has invited you for a visit at the cot- 
tage. Write to her and to your friend, separate letters. 

d. You have the hay fever violently and cannot go to your 
friend's house party in the country. Write a sufficiently 
pathetic letter explaining the situation vividly. 

e. You have sent a tennis racquet to your aunt, and an opera 
bag to a college boy. Write to them both, explaining the 
complication. 

/. You have absolutely forgotten an engagement for an evening 
musical. The hostess has left town now. Write to her and 
apologize in such a way that the hostess will understand your 
real regret. 

g. You want a cousin of yours in Los Angeles to become ac- 
quainted with your best friend who is going there to live. 
Write so that your cousin will really want to see your friend. 

h. You have attended a wedding. Write to a friend who was 
invited but could not be present, and tell her about it. 

i. You are at your summer home. Write to your brother who 
is at work in the city, and cheer him up. 



APPENDIX 315 

j. Write a letter telling the experience you are having at an 

organized camp. 
k. A new family has moved into town, next door to you. Write 

to your friend who is away at school and describe the new 

neighbors, their Victrola and their dogs. 
I. You have just had an unusual party for your friends. Write 

to your cousin who wants ideas for entertaining a similar 

group. 
m. You know a boy who has a wireless set in a city near yours. 

Write to him, making arrangement for sending messages. 
n. Suppose yourself writing in 1925. Send a letter to one of 

your old high-school classmates telling what you are doing. 
o. You have visited a place that turned out to be most dis- 
agreeable. Write to a friend who intended to spend a vaca- 
tion there and tell your opinion. 
p. You have been asked to be on a committee. You do not 

want to accept. Write a note to the chairman. 
q. You have been shopping for your invalid cousin. Write to 

her, commenting on your experiences and telling her what 

you are sending her by parcel post, 
r. A child of six has broken his arm. Write him a letter that 

will amuse him. Illustrate it if possible. 

II. IN WHICH I ASSUME ANOTHER PERSONALITY 

294. What " Central" Thinks of the Human Race. 

295. Moses in Modern Times. 

296. Being the School Principal for a Day. 

297. A Professor on Grasshoppers. 

298. The Birds' Peace Conference — Mr. Dove Presiding. 

299. Soliloquy of a Baby in a Theater. 

300. My Brother Expresses his Views on Woman Suffrage. 

301. Problems of a Small Boy. 

302 Variations in People's Ideas of — 

1. Temperature. 

2. Size. 

3. Age. 

303. Grandmother's Views on Pockets. 

304. Reminiscences of an Ancestral Bean Pot. 

305. The Apple Barrel down Cellar Receives Visitors. 

306. The Soliloquy of the Weatherman. 

307. A Missionary's Feelings on Opening a Barrel from the Ladies' 
Aid. 



316 APPENDIX 

308. The Milliner's Clerk Speaks. 

309. Complaint of a Cab-Driver. 

310. The Motorman on his First Trip. 

311. Being a Floor- Walker. 

312. Night Thoughts of a Puppy. 

313. Sensations of a Stowaway. 

314. The Musings of a Fat Girl or Boy. 

315. The Abused Postman. 

316. A Barbarian's Thoughts on Seeing the Modern Shoe. 

317. Father — When the Bills Come in. 

318. The Coal-Driver Reveals his Nature. 

319. My Opponent Expresses his Views. 

320. The Poet's Ideas of a Football Game. 

321 . The Old Trapper Grows Reminiscent. 

322. The Socially Ambitious Young Lady Grows Confidential 
with her Mirror. 

323. The Advertising Manager of the School Paper Comments 
on Human Nature. 

324. The Stock Broker Muses on his Losses and Gains. 

325. The Local Editor Reviews the Day's Happenings. 

326. The Martian Visits New York. 

327. The Mr. Hyde of my Own Nature Speaks. 

328. The Old Arm Chair Grows Garrulous. 

329. Bridget's Remarks on the Family Washing. 

330. The Tired Shopper Views her Disappointments. 

331. The Hurdy-Gurdy Man. 

332. The Farmer Boy Talks to himself while he Milks the Cow. 

333. The City and Country Cousins Exchange Views. 

334. Robert Burns Speaks in his Own Person. 

335. The Jail-Bird's Excuse. 

336. The Cow Comments on her Tormentors. 

337. The Tortoise as he Plods toward his Goal. 

338. A Butterfly just after Leaving the Cocoon. 

339. A Farmer's Boy Plans his Day. 

340. A Soldier under Fire. 

341. A Debutante in an Old Roman Art Gallery. 

342. A Young Officer First Assumes Command. 

343. A Runaway Recalls his Experiences. 

344. Grandmother in her Rocking-Chair. 

345. Reminiscences of an Elevator Boy. 

346. The Knight of the Chessboard Speaks. 

347. A Minister Muses, Looking over the Congregation. 

348. The Old College Athlete Soliloquizes. 



APPENDIX 317 

349. The Old Veteran Soliloquizes. 

350. Feelings of an Umpire in a League Game. 

351. The Baggage-Master Talks to the City Reporter. 

352. The Artist in his More Pessimistic Mood. 

353. The Circus Clown Unmasks. 

354. Pericles at a Harvard- Yale Game. 

355. The Family Butler Lapses into a Communicative Mood. 

356. The Defaulter Tells his Story. 

357. The Laborer Grows Vituperative. 

358. Trials of a Suburbanite. 

359. The Man behind the Snare Drum — Temperature 104°. 

360. A Child Imitating a Grown-up. 

Monologues — The possible speaker and his opening words 
being given 

361. "I'm sorry but — " Your friend when you ask a favor 

362. "If you insist — " The town gossip 

363. "I told you so — " Your eagle-eyed sister 

364. "I simply have to have it — " Pleading brother 

365. "Yes, I went — ■" Dutiful, but disdainful son 

366. "Can't you see I'm busy?" Father reading the paper 

367. "Did you take your medicine?" Family doctor 

368. "Next".. The barber on Saturday night 

369. " Go to it, boys " Football coach 

370. "I have the pleasure — " Toast-master 

371. "The lesson for to-morrow — " Your teacher 

III. Subjects in which "I" am somewhat of an 
Authority 

(a) 

372. How to Build a Range Fire. 

373. How to Tie Knots. 

374. How to Make a Fire in the Fireplace. 

375. How to Make a Fire without Matches. 

376. How to Set a Table. 

377. How to Decorate a Dinner Table. 

378. How to Wash Dishes. 

379. How to Make a Bed. 

380. How to Study. 

381. How to Make Peppermint Drops (or any other kind of candy). 

382. How to Clean the Furnace. 

383. What I Did with the Autumn Leaves on the Lawn. 



318 APPENDIX 

(6) 

384. The Training of a Fireman. 

385. What Happens in a Fire Department when an Alarm Rings, 

386. How to Ring in an Alarm. 

387. Our Present-Day Fire Department. 

388. The History of our Fire Department. 

389. Why a City should Own a Forest. 

390. The Enemies of our Trees. 

391. How our City Trees are Preserved. 

392. How the Forestry Department Beautifies our City with 
Flower Pots and Gardens. 

393. How to Fell a Tree. 

394. The Shapes of Trees. 

395. My Observation of the Work Done Last Spring by One of 
Our Foresters. 

(c) General subjects 

396. Buying Christmas Presents with a Limited Allowance. 

397. A Battleship. 

398. Running a Stereopticon Machine. 

399. How I Built a Phonograph. 

400. Greasing a Bicyle. 

401. Learning to Run an Automobile. 

402. Cleaning the Automobile. 

403. How to Avoid Automobile Accidents. 

404. Automobile Etiquette. 

405. Some Uses of Electricity. 

406. What I Did with my Electric Batteries. 

407. What the World Owes Edison. 

408. What I Consider the Greatest Invention. 

409. Mottoes on Christmas Cards. 

410. Making Money on Ten Dollars. 

411. Devices Used to Prevent Increasing the Face Value of Checks. 

412. Investments, Safe and Unsafe. 

413. How to Manage a Savings Account. 

414. How you can Pay for a Home through the Cooperative 
better than through the Savings Bank. 

415. The National Banks and Trust Companies, 

416. Our General Store. 

417. A Day at the Market. 

418. An "Automat" Lunch-Room. 

419. Why I Believe in Foreign Missions. 

420. Getting a Summer Job. 



APPENDIX 319 

421. The Successful Advertiser. 

422. Patent Medicine Advertisements. 
i 423. The Cost of Advertising. 

424. The Use of Advertising Phrases. 

425. A Corner in the Museum. 

426. The Minute Man of Lexington. 

427. Why I Like to Go Sketching. 

428. Charcoal Drawing. 

429. A Model Pastime — Crocheting. 
' 430. Making Baskets. 

431. Benefit Derived from the Doing of Fancy Work. 

432. How to Construct a Kite. 

433. How to Make Bayberry Candles. 

434. Making over Barrels into Furniture. 

435. Possibilities of a Thermos Bottle. 

436. The Origin of the Umbrella. 

437. The Story of the Alligator-Skin Bag. 

438. A Playhouse Made of a Piano Box: How to Make it Water- 
proof. 

439. How to Make a Model Aeroplane. 

440. What Scissors may be Used for. 

441. Looking through the Big Telescope. 

442. The Art of Doing up a Box. 

443. How to Cover a Book Properly. 

444. How to Cut and Store Ice. 

445. Making Soap. 

446. Shoeing a Horse. 

447. The Railway System. 

448. The Ben Greet Players. 

449. The Amateur Stage-Manager. 

450. Getting up Amateur Theatricals. 

451. My Paper Route. 

452. The Making of a Magazine. 

453. The Circulations of Magazine and Newspapers. 

454. The Making of a Daily Newspaper. 

455. A Few Good Books. 

456. The Benefits of a Dictionary. 

457. The Kind of Book I should Like to Write. 

458. Military Drill in the High School. 

459. The District School. 

460. The City's Playgrounds. 

461. The Rights of Pedestrians in the City Streets. 

462. The Boy Scouts. 



320 APPENDIX 

463. The Camp-Fire Girls. 

464. How Tennis (or Golf) is Played on Shipboard. 

465. The Joys of Swimming at Night. 

466. The Cold-Blooded in Salt Water. 

467. A Glimpse at the Cape Cod Canal. 

468. How to Become a Wireless Operator. 

469. Trout and Smelt Fishing Contrasted. 

470. Aquatic Plants. 

471. How to Make Salt Beads. 

472. Canoeing vs. Sailing. 

473. How a Fog Horn Works. 

474. Catching Scallops. 

475. Digging Clams. 

476. An Amateur Clambake. 

477. Interesting Things Found on the Beach. 

478. Strange Rock Shapes. 

479. Harvesting (wheat, hay, oats, rye, flax, etc.). 

480. Filling the Silo. 

481. Most Recent Achievement. 

482. How to Have a Beautiful Garden. 

483. How to Arrange Flowers. 

484. Why I should Like to be a Florist. 

485. The Decorative Use of Wild Flowers/ 

486. My Experience in Collecting Butterflies. 

487. Birds I have Studied. 

488. Superstitions Regarding Toads. 

489. Development of the Frog. 

490. Turtles — Their Habits and Mine. 

491. How we Keep a Cat and a Canary in the Same House. 

492. Two Friends of Man: The Dog and the Horse. 

493. Children vs. Monkeys. 

494. Picking Berries for Market. 

495. An Up-to-Date Farm. 

496. "Dry Farming" in the West. 

497. Mushrooms that Grow on my Farm. 

498. Raising Celery. 

499. Cranberry Culture. 

500. Modern Housekeeping Conveniences (electric stove, vacuum 
cleaner, electric washing-machine, etc.). 

501 . How to Attach a Pair of Hockey Skates. 

502. How to Make Jelly. 

503. Cooling Maple Syrup on the Snow. 

504. How to Toast Marshmallows. 



APPENDIX 321 

505. Whitewashing. 

506. Dressing and Curing Pork. 

507. Cooking when Mother is away. 

508. Bookbinding. 

509. The Markings on One Kind of Old China. 

510. Arts and Crafts Jewelry. 

511. How to Catalogue One's Home Library. 

512. The Uses Children Make of Chairs. 

513. Mistakes that Women Make about Small Boys. 

514. Votes for Children. 

515. Training at a Large Hospital. 

516. My Experience in a Hospital. 

517. Necessity of a Hospital Bell. 

518. My Father's Occupation. 

519. John Bull in Cartoons. 

520. A Study of Lincoln in Cartoons. (See Punch.) 

521. Styles in Stick-Pins (or anything else). 

522. Training a Pompadour. 

523. What One can Do without. 

524. Telephone Etiquette. 

525. Being Chairman of my Club. 

526. Amateur Floor-Painting. 

527. Making a Concrete Floor. 

528. Where to Look for Good Detective Stories. 

529. How to Tell Time by a Ship's Clock. 

530. The Efficiency Expert on Amusements. 

531. Novel Refreshments. 

532. How to Entertain a Group of Children — Out of Doors — 
Indoors. 

533. Child's Play and its Nonsense. 

534. How the Other Half Plays. 

535. The Difficulties of a Losing Team. 

536. Why Baseball is the most Scientific of all Sports. 

537. Bareback Riding. 

538. Breaking a Colt. 

539. A Genuine Barn-Raising. 

540. Corn Roast in the Country. 

541. Climbing Trees. 

542. The History of our Farm. 

543. Teaching a Sunday-School Class. 

544. Ways of Filling in Odd Quarter Hours. 

545. Time-Saving Devices. 

546. The Time of Day when One can Do his Best Work. 



322 APPENDIX 

547. Ten Minutes in a Boiler Room. 

548. Nature's Show- Window. 

549. Going Out of Sight of Houses. 

550. What One Learns around the Station- Yard. 

551. How to Deal with a Book Agent. 

552. Packing a Trunk. 

553. Clothing myself on a Moderate Allowance. 

554. Buying Stationery. 

555. Clay-Modeling. 

556. Wood-Working. 

557. Casting and Forging. 

558. Caring for Electric Clocks. 

559. Framing Pictures. 

560. Learning Memory Assignments. 

(d) To be accompanied with illustrations or diagrams 

561. Christmas Presents I can Make. 

562. The Landlord's Coat of Arms in "Tales of a Wayside Inn." 

563. Some Experiments in Paper-Cutting. 

564. Flowers I have Found in One Square Mile. 

565. A Scheme for a Sunken Garden. 

566. Some Deep-Sea Wonders. 

567. Styles in Wigs in Johnson's Time (or any other time). 

568. An Elizabethan Costume. 

569. Building a Pushmobile. 

570. Effective Advertisements and Why. 

571. What I can Whittle. 

572. Stage Setting for One Scene in Macbeth. 

573. A Satisfactory Bungalow for a Girls' or Boys' Camp. 

574. A New Grandstand for our Athletic Field. 

IV. In which I ask myself Questions 

575. Should the President be Caricatured? 

576. Should a Boy have an Allowance? 

577. Why do Some People Never Catch Anything? 

578. Has Recklessness Any Rewards? 

579. How do People Get their Nicknames? 

580. How can I Let her Win? 

581. Why are Some Girls so Popular? 

582. Should we Follow the Styles? 

583. What is Home? 

584. Should Children be Told about Santa Claus? 



APPENDIX 323 

585. Who is my Neighbor? 

586. What is a True Sport? 

587. How Does Gossip Travel? 

588. What Laws Affect me Directly? 

589. How can I Propitiate the Cook? 

590. Does a Quiet Stone Gather Moss? 

591. What Does our Flag Stand for? 

592. Is Tact a Virtue? 

593. What shall I Say to Strangers? 

594. What Profession shall I Choose? 

595. How shall I Keep from Laughing at the Wrong Time? 

596. What is the Best Way of Showing my Report to Mother? 

597. Must the Dreadnought Go? 

598. Would I Like Being a Shop Girl? 

599. How can I Improve my Sister or Brother? 

V. Subjects in which I give Free Rein to mt 

Fancy . 

(a) Prose subjects 

600. Inventions we Hope for but Never Expect. 

601. How a Mirror Prevented a Crime. 

602. The Walking-Boot Boasts to the Dancing-Pump. 

603. S. O. S. 

604. When Biddy Wields the Rolling-Pin. 

605. The Headless Hat-Pin. 

606. The Man without a Shoe. 

607. Midnight Talks. 

608. Afternoons Astray. 

609. Riding on a Cloud. 

610. The Peacemaker. 

611. My Oral Theme Dream. 

612. Voices in the Wind. 

613. The Consequences of a Forgotten Appointment. 

614. The Meeting that would n't Come to Order. 

615. Stories a Schoolbook could Tell. 

616. What the Rumble and Rattle of an Electric Car Seem tc 
Say. 

617. If I could Have my Wish. 

618. A Perfumed Note. 

619. Thoughts I Associate with Candles. 

620. A Submarine Raid. 

621. Just a Bit of Musing. 



324 APPENDIX 

622. How I should Spend a Hundred Dollars. 

623. Just a Bit of Curious Peering. 

624. An Excursion into the Realm of the Weird. 

625. Following the Hair-Pin Trail. 

626. Things Suggested by a Knowing Mind. 

627. Rain! Rain! Rain! 

628. What I should Do if I were Lost. 

629. Bugaboos. 

630. The Dear Old Golden Rule. 

631. Goops. 

632. A Game Won by Pluck. 

633. What's the Use of Living? 

634. A "Phony" Discovery. 

635. Aeroplaning above Mars. 

636. The Stranger's Story at the Inn. 

637. Lost — My Youth. 

638. Life on a Whaling Vessel. 

639. With the Fair Sex at the Polls. 

640. Every Silver Lining has its Cloud. 

641. Wishing on a Load of Hay. 

642. The Wedding Cake I Forgot to Dream on. 

643. Where the Wind Comes from. 

644. The Dreaded Prophecy. 

645. The Double Monogram. 

646. The Seventh Life of a Cat. 

647. The Beggar's Pedigree. 

648. Here Lie the Remains of 

649. At the Bottom of a Well. 

650. The Story I See in a Picture. (The theme to be written in 
class on any picture which the student has cut out and 
brought to class). 

651. The Little Bird that always Tells. 

652. A Jungle Comedy. 

653. The Old Cow-Bell. 

654. A Late Telephone Call. 

655. A Barrel of "White Elephants." 

656. Effect of Chimes on Noonday Crowds. 

657. The Mystery of the Scarlet Ink. 

658. An Encounter with my own Ghost. 

659. The Treasure I did n't Find. 

660. Footprints. 

661. The Slipper. 

662. The Haunted House. 



APPENDIX 325 

663. The Little Red Dress. 

664. When I Touch a Fairy Toadstool. 

665. A Persian Rug. 

666. The Site of this High School a Thousand Years Ago. 

667. The Child of the Willow Brook. 

668. Beyond the Dictionary. 

669. Gray Crows. 

670. Mother Goose Rhymes Told in Modern Newspaper Style. 

671. A Travel Talk after Touring our House. 

672. An Original Child's Story Illustrated. 

673. Trouble Caused by a Quick Retort. 

674. A Stage Setting and a Situation — To be written up as one 
scene of a play: 

1. Mary Elizabeth's Soda Fountain — Hero waiting for 
heroine. 

2. Furnace Room in a Munitions Works — Unionists 
complaining against overtime. 

675. A Modern Parable. 

676. An Essay on Red Geraniums. 

(6) Poetic self -starters for prose themes 

677. The slippery verge her feet beguiled: She stumbled head- 
long in! Gray 

678. A favorite has no friend Gray 

679. Welcome each rebuff Browning 

680. There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face 

Shakespeare 

681. A perfect woman, nobly planned Wordsworth 

682. The golden, olden glory of the day gone by Riley 

683. Alone on a wide, wide sea Coleridge 

684. Childish fears are less than horrible imagining Shakespeare 

685. The boast of heraldry Gray 

686. Demurest of the tabby kind Gray 

687. 'T is the middle of night by the castle clock Coleridge 

688. Had I but plenty of money, money enough and to spare 

Browning 

689. A sight to dream of, not to tell Coleridge 

690. Lord, what fools these mortals be! Shakespeare 

691. We walked along, while bright and red 

Arose the morning sun Wordsworth 

692. The mountain and the squirrel had a quarrel Emerson 

693. I remember, I remember the house where I was born Hood 

694. In a drear-nighted December Keats 



326 APPENDIX 

695. Then felt I like some watcher of the skies. Keats 

696. I met a traveller from an antique land Shelley 

697. We wander 'd to the Pine Forest that skirts the Ocean's 
foam Shelley 

698. Into this wild abyss Milton 

699. What custom wills, in all things should we do 't Shakespeare 

700. This fellow is wise enough to play the fool Shakespeare 

701. As one who on a lonely road doth walk with fear and 
dread Coleridge 

702. O world, thy slippery turns! Shakespeare 

703. Over the hills, and far away, Beyond their utmost purple 
rim Tennyson 

704. Passing rich at forty pounds a year Goldsmith 

705. Content to let the north-wind roar Whittier 

706. Sweet is pleasure after pain Dryden 

707. She took me to her elfin grot Keats 

708. By sports like these are all their cares beguiled Goldsmith 

709. Give me of your bark, O birch-tree Longfellow 

710. Little I ask: my wants are few Holmes 

711. A wet sheet and a flowing sea Cunningham 

712. Continual comfort in a face Roydon 

713. So many worlds, so much to do Tennyson 

714. But 't was a famous victory Southey 

715. I am never merry when I hear sweet music Shakespeare 

716. Sighed and look'd, and sighed again Dryden 

717. Squandering wealth was his peculiar art Dryden 

718. Who's been bad to-day? Eugene Field 

719. On the cold hill's side Keats 

720. My bane and antidote are both before me Cato 

721. He comes, — he comes — the Frost Spirit comes. Whittier 

722. And I, I was a good child on the whole Mrs. Broiuning 

723. I am a part of all that I have met Tennyson 

724. What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie! 

Whittier 

725. I could a tale unfold Shakespeare 

(c) Suggestions for poems 

726. The Flame-Spirits. 

727. My Garden Flowers. 

728. A Serenade to our Milk Man. 

729. Ode to the Morning. 

730. A Caterpillar's Lament on Hearing that his Brother is among 
the Squashed. 



APPENDIX 327 

731. Lines to my Dog Written in Dejection. 

732. Sonnet to my Waste-Basket. 

733. A Rhyme without Reason. 

VI. Subjects suggested by my Reading and Study 

734. A Day at King Arthur's Court. 

735. Clare's Meeting with Marmion. 

736. De Wilton's Trial. 

737. What I would have Done if I had been Elaine. 

738. My Opinion of Tennyson's Arthur and my Reasons for it. 

739. How to Develop Good Taste in Reading. 

740. How to Cultivate Self-Control. 

741. Self-Cultivation in Telling a Joke, Skating, Table-Manners, 
keeping One's Room Tidy, Gardening, Happiness, Tiddle- 
winks, etc. 

742. A Meeting of the Raveloe Sewing Circle One Week after 
Silas Came to Town. 

743. If Godfrey had Confessed to Nancy Lammeter. 

744. Aaron and Eppie on their Fifth Anniversary. 

745. My Friends in Books. 

746. Longfellow's Love of Children as Shown in his Poetry. 

747. Longfellow's Love for the Sea as Expressed in his Poems. 

748. Two Girls — Evangeline and Priscilla. 

749. The Knighthood of Hiawatha. 

750. The Cross of Snow. 

751. The Saturday Morning Club, or Literary Reminiscences of 
the Parker House. 

752. What is the Real Story of Lincoln's Boyhood? 

753. When Abe and I Went down the Mississippi as Flatboat 
Hands. 

754. The Flag of the Secession. 

755. Lincoln's Entrance into Richmond as Conqueror. 

756. Is it True that Lincoln Died at the Right Time for his Fame? 

757. The Present House of Seven Gables. 

758. A Legend of my own Family. 

759. A Modern Judge Pyncheon. 

760. From Witchcraft to Hypnotism. 

761. The History of the Province House. 

732. A Chat with Hawthorne at the Old Province House Bar. 

763. A Modern Twice-Told Tale. 

764. Dramatization of the Story of Lucie and Dr. Manette. 

765. Dramatization of Scenes in the Cruncher Family. 



328 APPENDIX 

766. Interesting Prisoners of the Bastille. 

767. A Twentieth-Century King Midas. 

768. Chaucer's Opinion of Billy Sunday. 

769. My "Seven Wonders" of the World. 

770. My Feelings upon Seeing Motion Pictures of Dante's In- 
ferno. 

771. With our Faint Heart the Mountain Strives. 

772. Recollection of Uncle Remus. 

773. Bach and Mathematics. 

774. The Club Dines with Sir Joshua. 

775. A Cranford Poster. 

776. An Alice-in- Wonderland Party. 

777. The Brook Farm Experiment. 

778. A Beowulf Dream. 

779. The Unco Guid. 



VII. In which I Observe 

(a) People 

780. The Baby in a Passion. 

781. A Dyspeptic in a Restaurant. 

782. He Meant well. 

783. The Girl I Wanted to Meet. 

784. My Father as a Boy. 

785. Chatting with the Brakeman. 

786. The Advantages of Having a Sister. 

787. Human Vegetables I have Known. 

788. My First Caller. 

789. People who Bore me. 

790. My Ideals in People. 

791. Girls I have Admired. 

792. How Teasers Endure Teasing. 

793. When Father Talks Politics. 

794. How I Classify People, 

795. A Study in Chivalry. 

796. When the Bride Throws her Bouquet. 

797. A Weil-Bred Girl. 

798. Why the Twins are never Jealous of Each Other. 

799. How the Baby passed his Time on the Railroad Train. 

800. The Most Impressive Person in the Circus. 

801. My First Love. 

802. Mother in the Garden. 



APPENDIX 329 

803. The Girl at the Wheel. 

804. A Queer Bridegroom. 

805. At the Toy-Shop Window. 

806. A Clever Disguise. 

807. The Only Galahad I ever Saw. 

808. When a Man is more Curious than a Woman. 

809. Watching a Street Faker. 

810. Exacting Aunt Hannah. 

811. An Interesting Family. 

812. When Grandmother Came to our House. 

813. A Santa Claus who did not Look the Part. 

814. A Modern Enid. 

815. My Next-Door Neighbor. 

816. Mrs. Respectability. 

817. The "Scrub" and the "Debutante." 

818. The Owl and the Pussy Cat — The Professor and his Wife. 

819. The Insane Genius. 

820. My Friend the Sailor. 

821. The Western Boy and the Corn Club Prize. 

822. The Freshman across the Aisle. 

823. People I have Copied. 

824. Things I Wish our Doctor would n't Do. 

825. Who's who in my Family and why. 

826. A Stranger that I Admired on Sight. 

827. The Man who Needs my Shoes. 

828. Cooks we have Had. 

829. My Tardy Friend. 

830. Getting Father Dressed for an Evening Entertainment. 

831. The Kind of a Minister I do not Like. 

832. Pessimistic Mary. 

833. When Father is 111. 

834. The Audience at a Country "Movie" Show. 

835. Judging Character by Ears. 

836. Comparative Study of Fathers. 

837. When Mother Cleans the Glory-Hole. 

838. Why People are like Canned Goods. 

839. Study of Faces in a Street-Car. 

840. The Family Putterer. 

841. A Freshman's Opinion of Sophomores. 

842. My Opinion of an Egotist. 

843. These People who Love to Clean. 

844. Qualities necessary for a Good Chaperon. 

845. Why my Rival Excels. 



330 APPENDIX 

846. My Worst Enemy. 

847. When Father Made a Mistake. 

848. The Whims of my Chum. 

849. Teachers I have Had. 

850. Detectives and Pawn Shops. 

851. An Act of Heroism by One of our Firemen. 

852. A Kitchen Orchestra. 

853. Tramps I have Met. 

854. Our Dressmaker. 

855. A Freak I once Knew. 

856. That Polite Person. 

857. The Pullman Porter. 

858. Old New England Traits Seen in my Neighbors. 

859. The Woman who would Give Parting Instructions: A Fable. 

(b) Places 

860. My Corner in the Library. 

861. Sights from the Top of Bunker Hill. 

862. My Neighbor's Back Yard. 

863. Half an Hour on Boylston Street. 

864. Description of a Fire. 

865. My First Impressions of the College I am Going to Attend. 

866. Rummage Counters. 

867. Vespers in the Woods. 

868. On the Ferry. 

869. A Successful Grocery Store. 

870. My First Glimpse of New York. 

871. A Gypsy Camp. 

872. The Country Church. 

873. Gazing into a Store Window. 

874. The Most Attractive Schoolroom I Know. 

875. The Washington Elm. 

876. The Home of Louisa M. Alcott. 

877. Longfellow's Study. 

878. My Top Bureau Drawer. 

879. A Summer Hotel in Mid-Winter. 

880. A Thunder-Storm in the Mountains. 

881. Alone in a Great Church. 

882. An Old-Fashioned Garden. 

883. The Children's Ward. 

884. A Deserted Farm. 

885. An Up-to-date Business Office. 

886. My First Impressions of the Theater. 



APPENDIX 331 

887. A Colonial Kitchen. 

888. A Fire Sale. 

889. An Ideal Summer Cottage. 

890. In the Pullman. 

891. On the Deck of an Ocean Liner. 

892. A Street in the Slums. 

893. The Steerage. 

894. A View from the "Owl's Nest." 

895. A Country Cemetery. 

896. A Gruesome Sight. 

897. The Ice-Storm. 

898. The Bend in the Old Stone Wall. 

899. An Early Moring Walk in the Country. 

900. A Walk in the Rain. 

901. Themes to express one quality; as, silence, bleakness, heat, 
disorder, storm, comfort, strangeness, haste, peace, war. 

(c) Animals 

902. Why Two Kittens are Better than One. 

903. Does my Cat Think? 

904. When the Cat Ate the Canary. 

905. My Experiences with Goldfish. 

906. Grandfather's Old Horse. 

907. Pets of which my Family did not Approve. 

908. Pets I have Loved and Lost. 

909. Talks I have Had with my Canary. 

910. Instincts of Certain Animals. 

911. The Most Stupid Kind of Animal that I Know. 

912. The Mosquito as Guest. 

913. Heroes of my Acquaintance. 

914. How Hens Walk. 

915. Our Neighbor's Hens. 

916. Queer Bugs I have played With. 

917. The Lesson a Bee Teaches a Busy-Body. 

918. My Observations on Caterpillars and their Moths. 

919. Facial Expressions of a Cat or Dog (i.e., to express fright, 
pleasure, anger, or guilt). 

920. Habits of the Neighbor's Dog. 

921. Enter, my Dog. 

922. The Greetings my Dog Gives me. 

923. Queer Pets I have Had. 

924. My Dog's Actions when I Pet the Cat. 

925. "Cat and Dog Life" at our House. 



332 APPENDIX 

926. Why a Boy Needs a Dog. 

927. Troubles with a Frolicksome Dog and a Leaky Canoe. 

(d) Things 

928. The Last Thing I Expect to Own. 

929. Queer Messages I have Picked up. 

930. Necessities I do not Like. 

931. Mistakes that People Make about Wireless. 

932. Sunday Night Suppers at Home. 

933. One Side of a Telephone Conversation. 

934. The Advantage (or Disadvantage) of Being Tall (or Short). 

935. Kickers. (Mechanical Ones). 

936. The Disadvantages of Being Perfectly Healthy. 

937. The Old-Maid-Moon Has my Sympathy. 

938. Why Some Teachers do not Have Discipline. 

939. When to Go to Church. 

940. Humoring the Weather. 

941. The Disadvantages of Having Ears. 

942. Why I Wish I Were a Man. 

943. Why my Diary is Dear to me. 

944. The Human Side of Shopping. 

945. Telling the Season by the Flower-Shops. 

946. Planning my Party. 

947. The Wetness of Water. 

948. The Penny Rolling uphill. 

949. Exceptions that do not Prove the Rule. 

950. My First Secret Society. 

951. Feathers. 

952. What I can See from our Pew. 

953. A Love Letter to my Alarm Clock. 

954. What I would Do with a Show- Window. 

955. How my Room is Haunted. 

956. When they Clean House Next Door. 

957. Treasures of our Attic. 

958. My Souvenir Drawer. 

959. What Keeps my Door open. 

960. Andirons. 

961. My Room as I should Like to Furnish it. 

962. The Consequences of never Keeping my Possessions in Order. 

963. When the Teacher Forgot to Assign a Home Lesson. 

964. My Note-Books and Some Others. 

965. What the English Language would Mean to me without the 
Word "Why." 



APPENDIX 

966. Notes Received in School. 

967. Why I Like to Collect Poems. 

968. When the Engineer could not Heat the School Building. 

969. What I Expect College Life to Be. 

970. Why Grown-Ups Fail to Appreciate Fairyland. 

971. If I had my School Life to Live over again. 

972. How I Memorize. 

973. On the Writing of a Sonnet. 

974. Latin and why it is so Popular. 

975. Things I should Like to Know. 

976. How English should be Taught in the High Schools. 

977. Why I Like — ■ (any piece of literature). 

978. The Sunday Supplement. 

979. My Ideal Library. 

980. My Old Nine Mother Goose Favorites. 

981. Pleasures of Inflicting Self -Punishment. 

982. Being Unconventional. 

983. The Value of a Sense of Humor. 

984. Ideals and Reals. 

985. The Fascination of the Forbidden. 

986. The Delights of Loitering. 

987. Minding Another's Business. 

988. The Folly of Being too Sensitive. 

989. Accepting Censure Philosophically. 

990. What I have Learned from our Victrola. 

991. Sunday-School Concert. 

992. "Terribly out of Practice." 

993. The Joys of Ragtime. 

994. Sounds from the Barnyard. 

995. The Popular Song I could not Forget. 

996. Why I Prefer the Organ to the Piano. 

997. Why I Like — (any piece of music). 

998. The Best Cartoons I Remember. 

999. The Art of Reaching School in Time. 

1000. What an Invalid is Supposed to Like. 

1001. What an Invalid Likes. 

1002. When Opposites don't Attract. 

1003. The Difficulties of Overcoming Conceit. 

1004. The Pleasure of Cutting Things. 

1005. Pulling the Wool over j^Ffes 

1006. Why I Like — (any picture or piece of sculpture). 

1007. Why I Like a Grocery Store. 



334 APPENDIX 

1008. Looking over Old Photographs. 

1009. Our Family Pictures. 

1010. The Worst Photograph I ever Had. 

1011. Pictures I should Like to Own. 

1012. How I would Dress if I were a Girl. 

1013. What I Thought of the Way my Mother Dressed me. 

1014. How our Closets Reveal our Personality. 

1015. The Oldest Thing I Own. 

1016. The Most Hideous Dress I ever Saw. 

1017. The Cheering Effect of White Shoes. 

1018. Rubber Overshoes. 

1019. Umbrellas I have Had. 

1020. What allures in Shoe Advertisements. 

1021. The Effect of my New Clothes on Other People. 

1022. Fits and Misfits in Shoes, Tent-Mates, etc. 

1023. My Beloved Old Clothes. 

1024. Different Ways of Breaking the Eighth Commandment. 

1025. A Virtue that I cannot Admire. 

1026. The Value of Debating on the Side to which One is Opposed. 

1027. Doing Things for my Own Good. 

1028. Solemnity: A Virtue and a Vice. 

1029. The Art of Fishing (not for Fish). 

1030. Bluffing has Compensations. 

1031 . How I Lost an Ambition. 

1032. First Names that I Hate. 

1033. The Quickest Way to Make me Furious. 

1034. If Any One really Wants to Please me. 

1035. The First Day of the Month. 

1036. Transitory Things: My Allowance: My Box of Huyler's. 

1037. My Cash Account. 

1038. My Debts — Other than Financial. 

1039. My First Investment. 

1040. The Red and the Yellow. 

1041. An Ideal Picnic Lunch. 

1042. My Idea of a Square Meal. 

1043. Why Boys Collect Horse-Chestnuts. 

1044. Blueberry Pie. 

1045. Making-Believe. 

1046. Why I Like Bungalows. 

1047. Smiles. 

1048. The Usefulness of the "I Am Blind" Sign. 

1049. An Architect's First House. 

1050. Knocking on Wood. 



APPENDIX 335 

1051. "Shop Early." 

1052. Boarding Out. 

1053. My Preferences. 

1054. The Country Dance. 

1055. Grandmother's Sampler. 

1056. Our Latch-String is always out. 

1057. The Question I Omitted on my Examination. 

1058. Frictional Electricity as Generated by an Angry Parent's 
Hand. 

1059. Social Errors I have Known. 

1060. What my Father Tries Hardest to Teach me. 

1061. What I Know about my Great-Grandfather. 

1062. The Father's Part in Life. 

1063. Scaring my Sister in the Dark. 

1064. My Mother's Apron-String. 

1065. How my Family Regards my Theme Nights. 

1066. The Cruelty of Children to Parents 

1067. Two Sides of the Question: Mother's and mine. 

1068. Family Dialect. 

1069. My Father's Pet Story. 

1070. When my Sister Tries to Reform me. 

1071. My One Regret. 

1072. Why I Like Red Hair. 

1073. My Pet Aversion. 

1074. The Luxury I Want. 

1075. How I Put myself to Sleep. 

1076. Letters I Like to Receive. 

{Children, 
Animals. 
Other People, 
Myself, etc. 

1078. Bridges I have Burned. 

1079. What I Want (or do not Want) Inscribed on my Tomb. 



THE SPECIAL TABLET LIST (see page 247) 

Benson, A. C. From a College Window. 
Chesterton, G. K. Varied Types. 

Heretics. 
Contemporary editorials and reviews from the New 
York Nation,New York Evening Post, Atlantic Monthly, 
Dial, Athenaum, Spectator, North American Review, and 
so forth. (Such reading can hardly be estimated in 
pages, but it should be kept account of and reported 
as explicitly as possible.) 
Crothers, S. M. The Gentle Reader. 
Eliot, C. W. Five American Contributions to Civilization, 

and Other Essays. 
Gates, L. E. Three Studies in Literature. 
Studies and Appreciations. 
Hazlitt, William. Essays. 
Irving, Washington. Sketch-Book. 

Bracebridge Hall. 
The Alhambra. 
Johnson, Samuel. Selected essays from the Rambler, Idler, 

etc. 
Lamb, Charles. Essays of Elia. 
Stevenson, R. L. Virginibus Puerisque. 
Memories and Portraits. 
Familiar Studies of Men and Books. 

Biography, Autobiography, Letters: — 
Boswell, James. Life of Samuel Johnson. 
Bryce, James. Studies in Contemporary Biography. 
Bunyan, John. Grace Abounding. 
Carlyle, Thomas. Heroes and Hero-Worship. 

Life of Sterling. 
Chesterfield, Earl of. Letters to his Son. 
Chesterton, G. K. Life of Dickens. 



APPENDIX 337 

Eliot, C. W. John Gilley. 

Froude, J. A. Life of Caesar. 

Grant, U. S. Personal Memoirs. 

Johnson, Samuel. Life of Savage. 

Johnston, R. M. The Corsican (Napoleon's Diary)'. 

Lockhart, J. G. Life of Sir Walter Scott. 

Lowell, J. R. Letters. 

Lucas, E. V. Life of Charles Lamb. 

The Gentlest Art. (A collection of letters.) 
Mark Twain. Life of Joan of Arc. 
Morley, John. Life of William Ewart Gladstone. 
Newman, Cardinal. Apologia. 
Ruskin, John. Pr&terita. 
Shaler, N. S. Autobiography. 
Stevenson, R. L. Letters. 
Trevelyan, G. O. Life and Letters of Thomas Babington 

Macavlay. 
Trollope, Anthony. Autobiography. 

Collections of Short Stories: — 
Barrie, Sir James. Auld Licht Idyls. 

A Window in Thrums. 
Brown, Alice. Meadow Grass. 
Conrad, Joseph. Youth. 

Tales of Unrest. 
Davis, Richard Harding. Gallegher and Other Stories. 

Van Bibber and Others. 
Deland, Margaret. Old Chester Tales. 
De Maupassant, G. The Odd Number (English transla- 
tion). 
Doyle, Sir Conan. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. 
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. 
The Return of Sherlock Holmes. 
Under the Red Lamp. 
Grahame, Kenneth. The Golden Age. 
Hardy, Thomas. Wessex Tales. 

Life's Little Ironies. 
Harris, J. C. Nights with Uncle Remus. 
Harte, Bret. Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Stories. 



338 APPENDIX 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. 

Mosses from an Old Manse. 
Grandfather's Chair. 
"O. Henry." The Four Million. 
Strictly Business. 
Roads of Destiny. 
Hewlett, M. H. Little Novels of Italy. 

New Canterbury Tales. 
Jacobs, W. W. Many Cargoes. 

Jewett, Sarah Ome. The Country of the Pointed Firs. 
Kipling, Rudyard. 

Besides The Jungle Books (entire) the following titles 

are suggested : — 
"His Private Honour." 
"The Man Who Was." 
"The Return of Imray." 
"The Mark of the Beast." 
"The Man Who Would Be King." 
"Without Benefit of Clergy." 
"The Brushwood Boy." 
"007." 
"They." 

"William the Conqueror." 
"The Courting of Dinah Shadd." 
"An Habitation Enforced." 
"The Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney." 
"The Story of Muhammad Din." 
Maclaren, Ian. Beside the Bonny Briar Bush. 
Merrick, Leonard. Whispers about Women. 

The Man who Understood Women. 
All the World Wondered. 
Poe, E. A. 

Tales, particularly the following : — 

"The Gold Bug." 

"The Purloined Letter." 

" The Pit and the Pendulum." 

"The Fall of the House of Usher." 

"The Cask of Amontillado." 

"The Black Cat." 



APPENDIX 339 

"Murders of the Rue Morgue." 

"The Mystery of Marie Roget." 
Stevenson, R. L. New Arabian Nights. 

The Dynamiter. 
Wells, H. G. The Country of the Blind. 
Wilkins, M. E. A New England Nun. 

Short Novels: — 

Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe, Part I. 
Galsworthy, John. The Country House. 
The Man of Property. 
The Patrician. 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. 
James, Henry. The Story of Daisy Miller. 
Kipling, Rudyard. The Light that Failed. 

Kim. 
Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer. 

Huckleberry Finn. 
Stevenson, R. L. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The 
Merry Men. 
The Ebb Tide. 
St. Ives. 

Longer Novels: — 
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 
Bennett, Arnold. The Old Wives' Tale. 
Denry the Audacious. 
Clayhanger. 
Blackmore, R. D. Lorna Doone. 
DeMorgan, William. Joseph Vance. 
Somehow Good., 
Alice for Short. 
Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. 
Our Mutual Friend. 
Great Expectations. 
Eliot, George. Middlemarch. 

The Mill on the Floss. 
Romola. 



340 APPENDIX 

Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. 

Far from the Madding Crowd. 
The Woodlanders. 
Under the Greenwood Tree. 
Howells, W. D. The Rise of Silas Lapham. 
Hughes, Thomas. Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby. 

Tom Brown at Oxford. 
James, Henry. The American. 

Roderick Hudson. 
Kingsley, Charles. Westward Ho ! 

Hypatia. 
Meredith, George. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. 
Diana of the Crossways. 
Evan Harrington. 
Mitchell, S. W. Hugh Wynne. 
Scott, Sir Walter. Kenilworth. 

The Heart of Midlothian. 
The Talisman. 
Thackeray, W. M. Pendennis. 

Henry Esmond. 
The Newcomes. 
Trollope, Anthony. Barchester Towers. 

Doctor Thome. 
The English Bible 

For best understanding, follow the order given. 

Genesis, chapters 12 (verses 1 to 5), 22, 24, 27, 28, 29 
(verses 1-30), 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 
(verses 1-6), 47 (verses 27-31), 49 (verse 33), 50. 
Judges, chapters 4, 5, 6 (verses 1-6), 11 (verses 29-40), 

13 (verses 1-7), 14, 15, 16. 
Ruth, all four chapters. 

1 Samuel, chapters 15, 16, 17, 18 (verses 1-16), 20, 31. 

2 Samuel, chapters 1, 15, 16, 17, 18. 

1 Kings, chapters 21, 22 (verses 1-39). 

2 Kings, chapters 5, 9. 

Amos, chapters 1 (verses 1-2), 2 (verses 6-16), 3, 7 

(verses 7-17). 
2 Kings, chapters 19 (verses 14-37), 20, 25 (verses 

1-21). 



APPENDIX 341 

Psalm 137. 

Daniel, chapters 4, 5, 6. 

Esther, chapters 1 to 8 inclusive. 

Ezekiel, chapter 37 (verses 1-14). 

Isaiah, chapters 40, 52. 

Ezra, chapters 1, 3. 

Nehemiah, chapters 1, 2, 4, 6 (verses 15-16). 

Psalms 8, 19, 23, 24, 42, 90. 

Proverbs 6 (verses 6-11), 15 (verses 1-10), 16 (verses 

16-23), 23 (verses 22-35), 30. 
Job, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 19 (verses 23-29), 31, 38, 42. 

Poetry: — 

The Golden Treasury {Everyman's Library). 

Plays: — 

Galsworthy, John. The Silver Box. 
Strife. 
Justice. 
Goldsmith, Oliver. She Stoops to Conquer. 
Kennedy, C. Rann. The Servant in the House. 
Pinero, A. W. The Magistrate. 

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray. 
The Thunderbolt. 
Shaw, George Bernard. Arms and the Man. 
Candida. 

Ccesar and Cleopatra. 
John Bull's Other Island. 
You Never Can Tell. 
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley. The Rivals. 

The Critic. 
The School for Scandal. 



A LIST OF REFERENCE BOOKS 

Webster's New International Dictionary. Springfield (Mass.). 

1910. Merriam, $12.00. 

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia and Atlas. New ed. 
12 vols. New York 1911-12. Century Co. Subscription. 

A Standard Dictionary of the English Language. Funk & 
Wagnalls, $12.00 

Crabb, George. English Synonymes. New ed. New York, 
1892. Harper, $1.25. 

Fernald, J. C. English Synonyms and Antonyms. 10th ed. 
New York, 1896. Funk & Wagnalls, $1.50. 

March, Francis A., and March, F. A., Jr. Thesaurus Dic- 
tionary of the English Language. Philadelphia, 1902. His- 
torical Pub. Co., $12.00. 

Barrere, Albert, and Leland, C. G. Dictionary of Slang, 
Jargon and Cant. New ed. 2 vols. New York, 1897. Mac- 
millan, $4.00. 

Farmer, J. S., and Henley, W. E. Dictionary of Slang and 
Colloquial English. Abridged. New York, 1905. Dutton, 
$2.50. 

Muret, Edward, and Sanders, D. Encyclopedic English-Ger- 
man and German-English Dictionary. 4 vols. London, 1901. 
Grevel, 21s. 

Spiers, A., and Surenne, Gabriel. Standard Pronouncing Dic- 
tionary of the French and English Languages. School ed. 
New York. Appleton, $1.50. 

Lewis, C. T., and Short, Charles. Harper's Latin Dictionary. 
New York, 1899. American Book Co., $6.00. 

New International Encyclopedia. New ed. 22 vols. New York. 

1911. Dodd. Subscription. 

Encyclopaedia Britannica. 11th ed. 29 vols. Cambridge 
(Eng.), 1910-11. Cambridge Press, $160.00. 

Harper's Book of Facts. New ed. New York. 1906, Harper, 
$8.00. 



APPENDIX 343 

New Students' Reference Work. 6 vols. Chicago. F. E. Comp- 

ton & Co., $21.75. 
Dictionary of National Biography; Index and Epitome. New- 
York, 1903. Macmillan, $6.25. 
Lippincott's Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography 

and Mythology. New ed. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1905. Lip- 

pincott, $15.00. 
Indexed Atlas of the World. New ed. 2 vols. Chicago, 1912. 

Rand, McNally & Co., $25.00. 
Lippincott's New Gazetteer. New revised ed. Philadelphia, 

1906. Lippincott, $10.00. 
Mill, H.R., and others. International Geography. New York, 

1900. Appleton, $3.50. 
Statesman's Yearbook. London, 1864 to date. Macmillan, 

$3.00 per year. 
World Almanac. New York. Annual. New York World, 54 

cents per year. 
American Year Book. F. G. Wickware, ed. New York. Ap- 
pleton, $3.15 per year. 
Shepherd, W. R. Historical Atlas. New York, 1911. Holt, 

$2.25. 
Ploetz, Carl. Epitome: A Handbook of Universal History. 

Boston, 1911. Houghton Mifflin Co., $3.00. 
Lamed, J. N. History for Ready Reference. 7 vols. Spring- 
field (Mass.), 1894-1910. Nichols, $35.00. 
Plutarch, Lives. Tr. by Stewart and Long. 4 vols. New York. 

Macmillan, $1.00 each. 
Morse, J. T., ed. American Statesmen Series. Boston. 

Houghton Mifflin Co., $1.25 a volume. 
Brewer, E. C. Historic Note-Book. Philadelphia, 1891. 

Lippincott, $3.50. 
Robert, H. M. Revised Rules of Order. Chicago. Scott, 

Foresman & Co., $1.00. 
Brookings, W. D., and Ringwalt, R. C. Briefs for Debate. 

New York, 1896. Longmans, $1.25. 
Ringwalt, E. C. The High-School Debate Book. Chicago, 1911. 

McClurg, $1.00. 
Evening Sky Map. Monthly, published by Leon Barritt, 

150 Nassau Street, New York. $1.00 per year. 



344 APPENDIX 

Bryan, Michael. Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. New 

ed. 5 vols. New York, 1904. Macmillan. Subscription. 

($30.00.) 
Grove, George. Dictionary of Music and Musicians. New 

ed. revised and enlarged. 5 vols. New York, 1904-to date. 

Macmillan, $5.00 per volume. 
Law, F. S. Operatic Tales. Philadelphia, 1903. Hatch 

Music Co., $1.00. 
Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. 

Edited by H. T. Peck New York, 1896. Harper, $6.00. 
Bulfinch, Thomas. Works. Edited by E. E. Hale. 3 vols. 

New York. Crowell, $2.25. (Containing the author's Age 

of Fable, Age of Chivalry, and Legends of Charlemagne.) 
Gayley, C. M. Classic Myths in English Literature, Boston, 

1893. Ginn, $1.50. 
Anderson, R. B. Norse Mythology. Chicago. Scott, Fores- 
man & Co. $2.50. 
Brewer, E. C. Reader's Handbook of References, Plots, and 

Stories. Philadelphia, 1880. Lippincott, $3.50. 
Brewer, E. C. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Philadelphia, 

1896. Lippincott, $1.50. 
iEsop, Hundred Fables. Illustrated by Billinghurst. London. 

Lane, $1.50. 
Frey, A. R. Sobriquets and Nicknames. New ed. Boston, 

1895. Houghton Mifflin Co., $2.00. 
Phyfe, W. H. P. Five Thousand Facts and Fancies. New 

York, 1901. Putnam, $5.00. 
Wheeler, W. A. Explanatory and Pronouncing Dictionary of 

the Noted Names of Fiction. Boston, 1892. Houghton 

Mifflin Co., $2.00. 
Bartlett, John. Familiar Quotations. 9th ed., enlarged. 

Boston, 1891. Little, Brown & Co., $3.00. 
Bent, S. A. Short Sayings of Great Men. New ed. Boston, 

1895. Houghton Mifflin Co., $2.00. 
Hoyt, J. K. Cyclopaedia of Practical Quotations. New ed., 

enlarged. New York, 1896. Funk & Wagnalls, $5.00. 
Warner's Library of the World's Best Literature. Ed. by 

Charles Dudley Warner and others. 46 vols. (Originally 

$3.50 per vol., can be had at a great reduction through 

second-hand dealers; has sold at $17.50.) 



APPENDIX 345 

Reed, T. B. Modern Eloquence. 15 vols. Philadelphia, 1901. 
Morris. Subscription. (Now sold at about $25.00.) 

Stedman, E. C. Victorian Anthology. Boston, 1895. Hough- 
ton Mifflin Co., $1.75. 

Stedman, E. C. American Anthology. Boston, 1911. Hough- 
ton Mifflin Co., $2.00. 

Halleck, R. P. History of American Literature. New York. 
American Book Co., $1.25. 

Abernethy, Julian W. American Literature. New York, 1902. 
Maynard, Merrill & Co., $1.10. 

Long, William J. American Literature. Boston, 1913. Ginn 
and Company. 

Warner, Charles Dudley, ed. American Men of Letters Series. 
Boston, 1897. Houghton Mifflin Co., $1.25 per volume. 

Ward, T. H. English Poets. 4 vols. New York, 1894-1903. 
Macmillan, $1.00 per volume. 

Child, F. J. English and Scottish Ballads; ed. by Sargent and 
Kittredge. Boston, 1904. Houghton Mifflin Co., $3.00. 

Palgrave, F. T. Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics. 2 vols. 
New York, 1891-97. Macmillan, $3.00. 

Garnett, Richard, and Gosse, E. W. English Literature; an 
Illustrated Record. 4 vols. London, 1903-04. $13.50. 

Ward, A. W., and Waller, A. R., eds. The Cambridge History 
of English Literature. New York, 1907. G. P. Putnam, 
$2.03 per volume. 

Morley, John, ed. English Men of Letters Series. New York. 
Harper, 75 cts. per volume. 

Ryland, Frederick. Chronological Outline of English Litera- 
ture. New York, 1900. Macmillan, $2.00. 

Whitcomb, S. L. Chronological Outlines of American Litera- 
ture. New York, 1894. Macmillan, $1.25. 

Moulton, C. W. Library of Literary Criticism. 8 vols. Buf- 
falo, 1901. Moulton Publishing Co., $27.50. 

The Holy Bible; containing both the Old and New Testa- 
ment. (A teacher's ed. for $3.50.) New York, 1910. Syn- 
dicate Publishing Co. 

Hastings, James. Dictionary of the Bible. New York. Scrib- 
ner, $5.00. 



346 APPENDIX 



A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The following list of books includes only those which offer 
to the teacher suggestive analytical material that will prove 
valuable in the technique of English teaching. For a more 
comprehensive list the reader is referred to the forthcoming 
report of the National Joint Committee on the Reorganiza- 
tion of High-School English to be issued from the office of 
the Commissioner of Education, Washington, D.C. 

Albright, Evelyn. The Short Story. Macmillan. 

A.lden, R. M. Introduction to Poetry. Holt. 

Archer, William. Playmaking: A Manual of Craftsmanship. 

Small, Maynard. 
Ashmun, Margaret. Modern Short Stories. Macmillan. 
Barrett, C. R. Short-Story Writing. Baker & Taylor. 
Bassett, L. E. A Handbook of Oral Reading. Houghton 

Mifflin Co. 
Bates, Arlo. Talks on the Study of Literature. Houghton 

Mifflin Co. 
Bates, Arlo. Talks on the Teaching of Literature. Houghton 

Mifflin Co. 
Bates, Arlo. Talks on Writing English. Houghton Mifflin 

Co. 
Bates, E. W. Pageants and Pageantry. Ginn & Co. 
Blakeley, G. S. Outlines for Studies in English. American 

Book Co. 
Bolenius, Emma. Teaching Literature in the Grammar 

Grades and High School. Houghton Mifflin Co. 
Brewer, J. M. Oral English. Ginn & Co. 
Brewster, W. T. English Composition and Style. Centurv 

Co. 
Briggs, T. H., and Coffman, L. D. Reading in Public Schools. 

Row, Peterson. 
Brown, R. W. How the French Boy Learns to Write. Harvard 

University Press. 



APPENDIX S47 

Campagnac, E. T. The Teaching of Composition. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 

Canby, H. S. The Short Story in English. Holt. 

Canby, H. S. A Study of the Short Story. Holt. 

Carpenter, Baker, and Scott. The Teaching of English. 
Longmans. 

Chubb, Percival. Festivals and Plays in School and Else- 
where. Harper. 

Chubb, Percival. The Teaching of English. Macmillan. 

Clark, S. H. Interpretation of the Printed Page. Row, 
Peterson. 

Clark, S. H. Handbook of Best Reading. Scribner. 

Colby, J. Rose. Literature in Life and School. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 

Corson, Hiram. The Voice and Spiritual Education. Mac- 
millan. 

Crashaw, W. H. Interpretation of Literature. Macmillan. 

Cunliffe and Lomer. Writing of To-day. Century Co. 

Dewey, John. How We Think. Heath. 

Dye, Charity. The Story-Teller's Art. Ginn & Co. 

Esenwein, J. B. Art of Short-Story Writing. Home Corre- 
spondence School, Springfield, Mass. 

Esenwein, J. B. Studying the Short Story. Hinds, Noble, & 
Eldridge. 

Esenwein, J. B. Writing the Short Story. Hinds, Noble, & 
Eldridge. 

Everts, Katherine J. The Speaking Voice. Harper. 

Fairchild, A. H. R. The Making of Poetry. Putnam. 

Fairchild, A. H. R. Teaching Poetry in the High School. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Fernald, J. C. [English Synonyms and Antonyms. Funk & 
Wagnalls. 

Foster, W. T. Essentials of Exposition and Argument. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Gardiner, J. H. Forms of Prose Literature. Scribner. 

Gayley, M. G., and Young, C. C. The Principles and Progress 
of English Poetry. Macmillan. 

Gerwig, G. W. The Art of the Short-Story. Werner. 

Gummere, F. B. Handbook of Poetics. Ginn & Co. 



348 APPENDIX 

Haliburton, M., and Smith, A. Teaching Poetry in the Grades. 

Houghton Mifflin Co. 
Hall-Quest, A. L. Supervised Study. Macmillan. 
Hamilton, Clayton. Material and Methods of Fiction. Baker 

& Taylor. 
Hayward, F. H. The Lesson in Appreciation. Macmillan. 
Heydrick, B. A. Hoio to Study Literature. Hinds, Noble, & 

Eldridge. 
Heydrick, B. A. Types of the Short Story. Scott, Foresman. 
Hinsdale, B. A. Teaching the Language Arts. Apple ton. 
Hitchcock, A. M. Rhetoric and Literature. Holt. 
Home, C. H. The Technique of the Novel. Harper. 
Hosic, J. F. The Elementary Course in English. University of 

Chicago Press. 
Hudson, W. H. An Introduction to the Study of Literature. 

Heath. 
Huey, E. B. The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading. 

Macmillan. 
Johnson, C. F. Elements of Literary Criticism. American 

Book Co. 
Johnson, C. F. Forms of English Poetry. American Book Co. 
Johnson, C. H. High-School Education. Scribner. 
Judd, C. H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Ginn & Co. 
Kerfoot, J. B. How to Read. Houghton Mifflin Co. 
King, Irving. The High-School Age. Bobbs-Merrill. 
Kittredge, G. L,, and Farley, F. E. An Advanced English 

Grammar. Ginn & Co. 
Leonard, S. A. English Composition as a Social Problem. 

Houghton Mifflin Co. 
Lomer and Ashmun. The Study and Practice of Writing Eng^ 

lish. Houghton Mifflin Co. 
Lyon, L. S. Elements of Debating.- University of Chicago 

Press. 
McMurry, C. A. Special Method in the Reading of English 

Classics. Macmillan. 
Manley, J. M., and Powell, J. A. A Manual for Writers. 

University of Chicago Press. 
Matthews, J. Brander. A Study of the Drama. Houghton 

Mifflin Co. 



APPENDIX 349 

Matthews, J. Brander. A Study of Versification. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 

Matthews, J. Brander. Development of the Drama. Scribner. 

Maxcy, C. L. The Rhetorical Principles of Narration. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Morris, Elisabeth Woodbridge. The Drama: Its Law and Its 
Technique. Allyn & Bacon. 

Moulton, R. G. The Literary Study of the Bible. Heath. 

Moulton, R. G. Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist. Oxford 
University Press. 

Moulton, R. G. The Ancient Classical Drama. Oxford Uni- 
versity Press. 

Neal, R. W. Thought Building in Composition. Macmillan. 

Neal, R. W. Short Stories in the Making. Oxford University 
Press. 

Neilson, W. A. Essentials of Poetry. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Opdycke, J. B. News, Ads, and Sales. Macmillan. 

Painter, F. V. N. Elementary Guide to Literary {Jriticism. 
Ginn & Co. 

Palmer, G. H. S elf-Cultivation in English. Houghton Mifflin 
Co. 

Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Ginn & 
Co. 

Perry, Bliss. A Study of Prose Fiction. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Pitkin, W. B. The Art and Business of Story Writing. Mac- 
millan. 

Quiller-Couch, Arthur. On the Art of Writing. Putnam. 

Rogers, Clara K. The Voice in Speech. Published by au- 
thor, 309 Beacon St., Boston. 

Sheffield, A. D. Grammar and Thinking. Putnam. 

Shepard, Odell. Shakespeare Questions. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Simons, C. E., and Orr, C. I. Dramatization of English Clas- 
sics. Scott, Foresman.' 

Snow, W. L. The High-School Prize Speaker. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 

Starch, Daniel. Educational Measurements. Macmillan. 

Stone and Garrison. Essentials of Argument. Holt. 

Suzzallo, Henry. The Teaching of Spelling. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 



350 APPENDIX 

Thomas, Charles Swain. How to Teach the English Classics. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Tolman, A. H. Questions on Shakespeare. University of 
Chicago Press. 

Trent, Hanson, and Brewster. Introduction to English Clas- 
sics. Ginn & Co. 

Ward, C. H. What Is English ? Scott, Foresman. 

Welch, J. S. Literature in the School. Silver, Burdett. 

Wendell, Barrett. English Composition. Scribner. . 

Whitcomb, S. L. The Study of a Novel. Heath. 

Winchester, C. T. Some Principles of Literary Criticism. 
Macmillan. 

Note. For the best current thinking on English teaching, as ex- 
pressed in periodical or bulletin form, consult the files of The Eng- 
lish Journal (Chicago), The Bulletin of the Illinois Association of 
Teachers of English (Urbana, 111.), and The English Leaflet (New- 
tonvilk, Mass.). 



INDEX 



Abbott, Allan, Summer Reading 
for High School Pupils, 245. 

Abstract, the, illumination of, by 
concrete illustration, 156, 157; 
use of, 12-13. 

Abt Vogler, quotation from, 133. 

Abydos, the Bride of, Byron, ex- 
ample of imagery, 163; 164. 

Accuracy, necessity of, in obser- 
vation, 6; in translations from 
foreign languages, 86. 

Addison, Joseph, humorous ap- 
peal, 236; personal appeal, 232; 
246. 

Adonais, Wm. Harney, quotation 
from, illustrating sense of 
taste, 165. 

Adrift on an Ice-Pan, Grenfell, 239. 

Mneid, The, 114, 122; literary 
value of, 114-15. 

Mschylus, 294. 

^Esthetic appeal in English liter- 
ature, 131. 

Age, the Elizabethan, 130; the 
Victorian, 131. 

Aids, Supplementary, to the 
Teaching of English, chap, 
xni, 254 ff. 

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, quota- 
tion from, illustrating sugges- 
tive rhythm, 138. 

America at Work, Joseph Hus- 
band, 119. 

American literature, 298. 

American Scholar, The, Emerson, 
226. 

Analysis, character, 189^.; topi- 
cal, of poems, example, 151. 

Ancient Mariner, The, Rime of, 
quotation from, illustrating 
power of poet to present wide 
extent of space, 147; 266. 



And, suggestions for training in 
proper use of, 88. 

Andrea del Sarto, quotation, 156. 

Anglo-Saxon poem, quotation 
from Tennyson's translation of, 
illustrating harsh tonality, 142. 

Anna KarSnina, Tolstoy, 191. 

Annual, the school, 256. 

Antony and Cleopatra, 205, 207; 
analysis of plot, 212-13; catas- 
trophe, 217; character of An- 
tony, 222; example of short 
answer test, 201-03; falling ac- 
tion, 217; introduction, 214; 
passage from, illustrating im- 
portance of visualization in 
drama, 206; rising action, 214- 
15; turning-point, 216. 

A Piece of^ Chalk, Huxley, 103. 

Appreciation, cultivating, - 145- 
46, 209-10, 249; memory as- 
signments an aid to, 155, 210- 
11; of aesthetic and ethical ap- 
peal of English literature, 131; 
of the essay, 224; of excellency 
in others, 117, 129; of poetry, 
135, 145-46, 147; rhythmic 
beauty, 138; of Shelley's Ode to 
the West Wind, 150; of a skilled 
vocabulary, 145; vitalizing 
effect of expression of, 109. 

Approach, individual, to assigned 
poems, 148-49 ; to A Tale of Two 
Cities, 172; to a selected drama, 
198; to the essay, 224-26. 

Arcadia, Philip Sidney, 149. 

Aristophanes, imitation of croak- 
ing of frogs, 136. 

Aristotle, 291. 

Arnold, Matthew, 120, 130; Es- 
say on the Study of Poetry, 146, 
155; quotation from Self -De- 



352 



INDEX 



pendence, 146; Rugby Chapel, 
140; Worldly Place, 12. 

Arthur, The Passing of, Tenny- 
son, quotation illustrating vis- 
ualization and sensory imag- 
ery, 158-59; 164. 

Articulation of Elementary-School 
English with Secondary-School 
English, chap, n, 21-33. 

Atalanta in Calydon, Swinburne, 
quotation illustrating tone 
color, 142. 

Athletics, interest and partici- 
pation in by teachers, 295-96. 

Atlantic Monthly, The, 264; Con- 
tributors' Club, 236. 

Author, personality of, 193; 
questions to bring out person- 
ality of, 193-95. 

Ave Atque Vale, Swinburne, quo- 
tation illustrating art in vowel 
and consonantal arrangement 
for melodious effect, 142. 

Bacon, 8, 291. 

Baker, F. T., Bibliography of 
Children's Reading, 245. 

Ballad of the White Horse, G. K. 
Chesterton, 113, 140. 

Ballou, Frank W., 28, 66. 

Bangs, John Kendrick, quota- 
tion, 278. 

Barrack Room Ballads, Kipling, 
quotation illustrating pleasing 
rhythm, 137. 

Barrie, James, The Little Minis- 
ter, 242. 

Basic Aims and Values in the 
Teaching of English, chap, i, 
1-20. 

Battle of Brunanburgh, quotation 
from Tennyson's translation, 
142-43. 

Benson, Arthur, 232, 236. 

Bergson, 291. 

Bible, The, literary value of, 
114-15. 

Biography, 122; Tennyson's, by 
Hallam Tennyson, 148. 



Blackmore, Richard, 120. 

Blessed Damozel, The, Rossetti, 
148; quotation illustrating sen- 
sory imagery, 164. 

Blot in the 'Scutcheon, A, Brown- 
ing, quotation illustrating in- 
tense but restrained emotion, 
144. 

Book Club, at the Groton School, 
168-69; suggestions for, 248- 
49; to arouse interest in oral 
composition, 72; to arouse in- 
terest^ literature, 168-71. 

Book-plates, 246-47. 

Books, 114, 115; for home-read- 
ing by high-school pupils, 245; 
lists for school library, 262-63; 
list by Samuel Thurber for 
technical high-school pupils, 
280; list for summer reading, 
by Miss Dike, 242-44; other 
lists, 245; modern, 240; num- 
ber of, for outside reading, 249; 
personal ownership of, 246-47; 
special tablet list of, 247. 

Boston Herald, The, story re- 
printed from, 56. 

Bracebridge Hall, Irving, 129. 

Briggs, Thomas H., Formal Eng- 
lish Grammar as a Discipline, 
35, 66. 

Browne, George H., quotation 
from, 107-08. 

Browning, Robert, 297; 131; 
dramas, 213; passage inter- 
preted, 44; passage para- 
phrased, 44; quotations, 10, 
11, 44, 144, 156; Blot in the 
'Scutcheon, 144. 

Brunei's Tower, Eden Phillpotts, 
186. 

Bryant, William Cullen, 127, 134. 

Bulletin, The Harvard-Newton, 
28; Association of High School 
Teachers of English of New 
York City, 36; of the Illinois 
Association of Teachers of 
English, 262, 263; of the Uni- 
versity of Missouri, 37, 66. 



INDEX 



353 



Bunyan, John, 115, 124, 125. 

Burke, Edmund, 117; Concilia- 
tion Speech, 227. 

Burns, Robert, 246; Carlyle's 
Essay on, 225, 226; quotation 
from A Winter Night, 143. 

Business English, 272 J\ 

Caine, Hall, 148. 

Call of the Wild, The, Jack Lon- 
don, 239. 

Camera, the, use of, 265-66. 

Captains Courageous, Kipling, 
239. 

Captains of Industry, Parton, 119. 

Carlyle, Thomas, 130, 288, 291, 
297; Essay on Burns, 225, 226, 
235; Heroes and Hero Worship, 
242. 

Castaway, The, 246. 

Catastrophe, in drama, 217; in 

! fiction, 181-82. 

Cathedral, The, Lowell, quotation 
for example of interpretation, 
153. 

Century, The, 264. 

Cervantes, 8. 

Character, analysis, in drama, 
219; comparison, in fiction, 
191-92; contrast in drama, 
220; contrast, in fiction, 191- 
92; decadent, 222; developing, 
190, 221; examples of a devel- 
oping character, 190, 191, 221, 
222; development of, 125, 178, 
210-11; duplication, 221; foil, 
221; group, complicity in, ex- 
ample, 189; portrayal, meth- 
ods of, in fiction, 191-92; reac- 
tion of upon, 220; single, com- 
plicity in, example, 189-90; 
static, example, 190; study, in 
drama, 217 jf. 

Charters, W. W., 66; investiga- 
tion by, in Kansas City schools, 
37-38. 

Chatterton, Thomas, 166. 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 130, 297. 

Chesterton, Gilbert K., 113, 232. 



Churchill, Winston, A Far Coun- 
try, 199. 

Classics, the, in translation, 122. 

Climax, in fiction, 181; in Silas 
Marner, 181. 

Club, book, 72, 168-71, 248-49. 
current-events, 72. 
English, 267-70. 
literary, 72. 

Coherence, criticism of, in oral 
composition, 80, 81; violation 
of, 87. 

College Entrance Examination 
Board, some questions asked 
by, 42-43. 

Collins, William, Ode to Evening, 
140. 

Committee on High-School Li- 
brary Equipment, 263. 

Composition and its Essentials, 
chap, iv, 47-68. 

Composition, coherence, 54; con- 
clusion of a, 52; eight require- 
ments for students, 49; em- 
phasis, 54; example of simple 
outline form, 53; for commer- 
cial, technical, and vocational 
pupils, 276-77; form and or- 
ganization, 49; five impera- 
tives in teaching, 48; in con- 
nection with literature, 117, 
128; in cooperation with other 
departments, 61-63; interest 
in, 54-58, 255; introduction of 
a, 51; oral, see Oral composi- 
tion; outline for a, 52-53; sci- 
ence, 62; sensory impression, 
59-61 ; stereopticon, use of, 62- 
63; translation of foreign lan- 
guage, 62; unity, 54; use of 
new words, 85; use of pictures, 
265-66. 

Compositions, conferences con- 
cerning, 64; constructive and 
sympathetic criticism, 64-68; 
marking, 65-67 ; scale for the 
measurement of, 28; Scales for 
the Measurement of, 66. 

Concentration, lack of, 15; sug- 



354 



INDEX 



gestions for attaining power of, 
16. 

Conciliation speech, Burke, 227- 
54. 

Conference, National, on Uni- 
form Requirements in English, 
41-42; personal, 64, 239-40. 

Conferences, between teacher 
and pupil, 64; to further corre- 
lation between grammar grades 
and high school, 27-33. 

Congdon, R. T., extract from ad- 
dress, 100-01; suggestions in 
annotated book list, 263. 

Connectives, coordinate and sub- 
ordinate, suggestions for teach- 
ing proper use of, 88. 

Contributors' Club, The, The At- 
lantic Monthly, 236. 

Cooper, J. Fenimore, 127; suit- 
ability for study, 188. 

Cooperation; between grade and 
high-school teachers, 27-33; by 
means of note-books in other 
subjects, 106; by means of text- 
books in other subjects, 102; in 
composition, 61-63; in school 
library, 264; suggestions for, 
101-10; with art department, 
247; with city library, 240^-1; 
with manual training depart- 
ment, 248; with other depart- 
ments in marking, 107-08; 
with school paper and annual, 
256. 

Coriolanus, 128. 

Cornwall, Barry, quotation, 147. 

Couplet, the, 139 ; the heroic, 
141. 

Courtis, S. A., "Standard Tests 
in English," 66. 

Cranford, Mrs. Gaskell, 239; dra- 
matic presentation of, 268. 

Critic, the true, 64-65; teaching 
the pupil to be his own, 67-68. 

Criticism, based on high ideals, 
96; constructive and sympa- 
thetic, 64-68, 95, 96, 101; cor- 
rect tone of, in oral work, 89; 



development of, in pupil, 67- 
68; helpful, personal, 96; in 
oral theme work, 79-80, 96; 
outline of, for oral theme, 80; 
of English by teachers in other 
departments, 108, 109. 

Crisis, 181. 

Crossing the Bar, Tennyson, 137, 
138, 142, 148. 

Crothers, Samuel M., essays, 
113 ; humorous appeal, 232, 
236. 

Culture, broader, opportunities 
for, (see Supplementary Aids,) 
113; commonalty of, 113-14; 
traditional, 114; true, 123. 

Dante, 294. 

Darwin, Charles, 235. 

Debate, a form of oral composi- 
tion, 72. 

Debating, 257-60; as oral compo- 
sition, 257; at the Grot on 
School, 259; common faults, 
257, 258; instruction in, 258- 
59; responsibility, 260, 

Declamation, see Prize speaking. 

Deland, Margaret, 187. 

De Quincey, 73. 

Descartes, 291. 

Dickens, Charles, 124, 156, 172, 
179, 184, 193; A Tale of Two 
Cities, 2J6; Hard Times, oral 
test questions, 251-53; novel, 
269. 

Dictionary, careful study of, 86; 
consultation of, 91. 

Difficulties in poetical phrasing, 
clearing up, 151-53. 

Dike, Elizabeth A., list of books 
for summer reading and com- 
ment, 242-44. 

Divine Comedy, The, Dante, 266. 

Division of Education at Har- 
vard University, 28. 

Dore, Paul Gustave, illustra- 
tions, 266. 

Drama, the, approach, 198; char- 
acter study, 217 f.; Frey tag's 



INDEX 



355 



Technique of, as simplified by 
Miss Woodbridge, 180; Greek, 
value of course in, 294; humor 
in, 211-12; memory assign- 
ment and dramatic presenta- 
tion, 210-11; plot structure, 
212 ff.; poetic appeal, 209, 210; 
The Ancient Classical, Moul- 
ton, 294; visualizing action of, 
205-08; The Teaching of the 
Drama, chap, x, 198-23. 

Dramatics, in English Club, 
268-69. 

Drummond, William, 268. 

Dryden, John, 130; quotation 
from Ode in Honor of St. Ce- 
cilia's Day, illustrating rhythm, 
137; quotation illustrating tone 
color, 142. 

Dynamite, Joseph Husband, ex- 
tract from, illustrating keen 
observation and vivid phrasing. 

Earhart, Gertrude, 66. 

Education, Department, Minne- 
sota, State, 263; Department, 
Wisconsin, State, 263; Series, 
no. 9, 66; United States Bu- 
reau of, 263. 

Elegy in a Country Churchyard, 
Gray, quotation illustrating 
clearing up of difficult phras- 
ing, 151. 

Elia, Chapter on Ears, 236-37; 
extract illustrating humorous 
essay, 236. 

Eliot, George, 116. 

Elizabethan age, 130. 

Elizabethan English, 209. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 127, 235, 
291; The American Scholar, 
226. 

Emotional effect, critical analysis 
showing production of, 13-14. 

Emotion, conveyed by voice, 94; 
essayist's appeal to thought 
and, 231; in the lyric, 150; re- 
visualizing, 157; sharing, 165; 
spiritual, effect on thepoet, 143. 



Emphasis, criticism of, in oral 
composition, 80, 81 ; in written 
composition, 54; violation of, 
87. 

English A, Manual of Instruc- 
tions and Exercises, Greenough, 
53, 247. 

English, Business, 272 jf.; corre- 
lation values of, and printing, 
quotation from article by W. S. 
Hinchman, 104-06; Course for 
Commercial, Technical, and 
Vocational Pupils, chap, xiv, 
271-84; criticized by teachers 
of other subjects, 108-09; de- 
fects and merits of, considered 
in computing semester's grade, 
article by George H. Browne, 
107-08, 297; Elizabethan, 209; 
history, 293; individual teach- 
er's power in use of, 109-10; 
Journal, The, 38, 109, 110, 266, 
305; Leaflet, The, 66, 67, 104, 
107, 108, 302; National Con- 
ference on Uniform Entrance 
Requirements in, 41; National 
Council of Teachers of, 31, 245, 
305; New England Association 
of Teachers of, 297; New York 
City Association of Teachers 
of, 100; of entire school, the 
business of entire school, 106- 
11; Self-Cultivation in, Palmer, 
117, 129, 226; supervisor of, in 
schools, 32; Supplementary 
Aids to the Teaching of English, 
chap, xiii, 254-270. 

English Club, The, at the New- 
ton High School, 267-70; 
constitution, 268; dramatics 
in, 268-69; organization, 267- 
68; program, 268-69; social 
side, 268, 269. 

English teaching, the, continued 
professional interest, 304-06; 
early love of reading, 287; 
power to speak and write well, 
288; practice teaching, 300- 
02; preparation in college, 289- 



356 



INDEX 



300; summer-school courses, 
302-04 ; training courses, 299- 
300; The Training of the Eng- 
lish Teacher, chap, xv, 285- 
306. 

Enunciation, books teaching 
more effective, 93; in oral com- 
position, 80, 92; suggestions 
for improving, 93. 

Errors, common, in the use of, 
and, 88, coherence, empha- 
sis, 87, like for as, 83; pronouns 
82, 83, verb forms, 82. 

Essay, Arnold's, on The Study of 
Poetry, 146; Carlyle's, on 
Burns, 225-26; Emerson's on 
The American Scholar, 226; 
on Self -Cultivation in English, 
Palmer, 226; Ruskin's, Sesame 
and Lilies, 226. 

Essay, the, approach to study of, 
224-26; assignments in, 226; as 
a stimulus to thought, 234-37; 
awakening interest in, 225; 
contribution of science to, 236; 
criticism of, 231; cultivating 
appreciation for, 224; outline, 
226-29; questions on style, 
231-32; structure, 226; study- 
ing style, 229-32; suggestions 
for recitation on, 228-29; 
thought and emotional appeal 
in, 231; The Teaching of the 
Essay, chap. XI, 224-37. 

Essayist, the, personality of, 235. 

Essayists, different types of, 235- 
37. 

Essays, 122; Addison's, Ben- 
son's, Chesterton's, Croth- 
ers's, Holmes's, Irving's, 232; 
Lamb's, 227; personal, 232; 
types of, 224. 

Ethical appeal in English liter- 
ature, 131, 196-97; message in 
literary selections, 125-26; 
value in character study, 222. 

Ethics, practical, the realm of, 
163. 

Euripides, 294* 



Eve of St. Agnes, The, quotation 

from, 61. 
Experience, essential to literary 

interpretation, 162, 163, 164. 

Falling Action, 216. 

Fall of the House of Usher, The, 
Poe, 183. 

Far Country, A, Churchill, 199. 

Faust, Goethe, 294. 

Fiction, aim in teaching, 196, see 
also chapter on Teaching of the 
Essay; aesthetic enjoyment and 
ethical response, 196; prose, 
122; The Teaching of Prose Fic- 
tion, chap, ix, 167-97. 

Field, Eugene, 134, 268. 

Flaubert, Gustave, 6. 

Flexner, Abraham, quotation 
from article on formal gram- 
mar, 35. 

Foreshadowing, dramatic, 183- 
84, 210. 

Forms, metrical and stanzaic, 
140-41. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 8. 

Free-verse writers, 140. 

Freytag, five divisions of plot 
structure, 212. 

Gallagher, Oscar C, 274. 

General Principles Governing the 
Choice of Literary Selections, 
chap, vii, 112-32. 

Geographic Magazine, The Na- 
tional, 264. 

Girls who Became Famous, Bol- 
ton, 119. 

Goethe, 294. 

Gold Bug, The, Poe, 129. 

Grammar, a means toward an 
end, 46; an aid to oral and 
written speech, 39; and liter- 
ature, 43; and composition, 40- 
43; an efficient and necessary 
tool, 39-43; criticism of, in 
oral composition work, 82; for- 
mal questionnaire in New York 
City, 36-37; in oral compo- 



INDEX 



357 



sition, 80; interpretation of 
difficult passages, by means of, 
44-45; investigation in ele- 
mentary grades of Kansas City 
schools, 37-38; Place of, in Ele- 
mentary Curriculum, F. S. 
Hoyt, 35 ; some questions on, 
in college entrance examina- 
tion for 1915-16, 42-43; Rela- 
tion of Grammar to Composition 
and Literature, chap, in, 34. 

Grammatical analysis of passages 
from literature, 44, 45. 

Gray, Thomas, 151, quotation. 

Greenough, C. N., 2, 53; Special 
Tablet List, see Appendix. 

Greenough and Kittredge, Words 
and Their Ways in English 

Grenfell,' Wilfred T., Adrift on 

an Ice-Pan, 239. 
Groton School, 104; the Book 

Club, 168, 169. 

Hall, Mary E., Girls' High 

School, Brooklyn, New York, 

263. 
Hallam, Arthur, 7. 
Hamilton, Sir William, 4. 
Hamlet, 220; character contrast 

in, duplication in, 221. 
Hard Times, Dickens, 186, 191, 

193, 246, 251. 
Hardy, Thomas, 186. 
Harney, William, quotation from 

Adonais, 165. 
Harper's Magazine, 264. 
Harris, Joel Chandler, 268. 
Harrison, Henry Sydnor, Queed, 

240. 
Harvard-Newton Bulletin, 28, 66. 
Harvard-Newton Scale, 28. 
Hawkshead, 73. 
Hawthorne, 116, 117, 127, 129, 

130, 188, 189, 193. 
Henry Esmond, Thackeray, 128, 

168. 
Heroes ofEvery-DayLife, Coe, 1 19. 
HervS Riel, 148. 



Highland Mary, Burns, 148. 

High School, Girls', Brooklyn, 
New York, 263; Grand Rapids, 
Michigan, list of books, 245; 
Library Equipment, Committee 
on, 263; Newton (Massachu- 
setts), 267, 301; Newton (Mas- 
sachusetts) Technical, 279; 
West Roxbury, 274. 

Hillegas, Milo B., 66; Scale, 66. 

Hillegas-Thorndike Scale, 66. 

Hinchman, Walter S., 104, 168. 

History in cooperation with Eng- 
lish, 63, 103. 

Hitchcock, Alfred M., extract 
from The Relation of the Picture 
Play to Literature, 189. 

Hobby Day, help in oral com- 
position, 73. 

Holmes, H. H., 66. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 232. 

Homer, 113. 

Hosic, James Fleming, 66, 305. 

House of Seven Gables, The, Haw- 
thorne, 195. 

How to Teach the English Classics, 
Thomas, Riverside Literature 
Series, no. I, sensory images, 59. 

Hoyt, F. S., The Place of Gram- 
mar in the Elementary Curricu- 
lum, 35. 

Humor, 124; in Shakespeare, 211, 
212; in the essay, 236, 237; il- 
lustration from Elia's Chapter 
on Ears, 236. 

Husband, Joseph, 119; essay on 
Dynamite, revealing powers of 
observation and phrasing, 58. 

Huxley, Thomas, 235. 

Hyperion, Longfellow, quotation 
from, 167. 

Idiom, as distinct from provin- 
cialism, 83-84; examples, 84. 

Idylls of the King, The, Tenny- 
son, 128, 130. 

Iliad, The, 114, 122; literary 
value of, 114-15. 

II Penseroso, 149. 



358 



INDEX 



Imagination, 158. 

Independent, The, 264. 

Industries of To-day, Lane, 119. 

Ink, the psychology of, 104. 

In Memoriam, Tennyson, quota- 
tion from, 7; 287. 

Interest, and pleasure in poetry, 
157; awakened by use of stere- 
opticon, 62-63; external, in 
poems, 148-49; in composi- 
tion aroused by advertise- 
ments, 54-55; by news items, 
56; in literature, 118, 122, 123; 
in the essay, 225-26, 232-33. 

Interest in oral composition stim- 
ulated by Book Club, 72, 167- 
69; by Current Events Club, 
72, debating, 72, hobby day, 
72, literary society, 72, "talk- 
around," 72. 

Interests common to English and 
other departments, 61. 

Interpretation, literary essen- 
tials, emotional sympathy, 13- 
15; imagination, 17-18; intel- 
lectual comprehension, 15-17; 
mastery of vocabulary, 16; 
spiritual understanding, 17. 

Interpretation of difficult pas- 
sages of poetry, 151-53; oral 
reading, a valuable aid to, 
153-55. 

Intimations of Immortality, 
Wordsworth, quotation from, 
illustrating interpretation by 
syntactical analysis, 45. 

Introduction, in dramatic plot, 
213-14; to Macbeth, 213; to 
Antony and Cleopatra, 214. 

Iron Woman, The, Margaret 
Deland, quotation from, 187. 

Irving, Washington, 117, 127, 
129, 232. 

Ivanhoe, 168. 

James, Henry, The Madonna of 

the Future, 170. 
James, William, chapter on Habit, 
k in Talks to Teachers, 100, 291. 



Johnson, Franklin, W. 66. 

Judd, C. H., 2. 

Julius Caesar, character contrast 

in, 220; developing character 

in, 221-22. 
Junior High School, 31-32. 

Keats, 130; quotation illustrating 
observation and phrasing, 61; 
quotation, 45; Ode to a Night- 
ingale, 122; quotation from 
Ode on a Grecian Urn, 152. 

Kelly, Frederick James, 66. 

King Lear, 114. 

Kingsley, Charles, Westward 
Ho!, 246. 

Kipling, Rudyard, Captains 
Courageous, 239; quotation 
from Barrack Room Ballads, as 
example of rhythm, 137. 

Kittredge, 2. 

Kubla Khan, Coleridge, 148. 

'LAllegro, Milton, quotation 
from, 162. 

Lamb, Charles, 73, 232, 235, 236; 
Essays, 227. 

Lancaster, Joseph, method of 
teaching, 171-77. 

Language, the English, 298; ex- 
pressional side of, 5-15; for- 
eign, utilizing knowledge of, 
91-92; opportunity for mas- 
tery of, 103; relation of, to 
thought, 3-20; theories of the 
origin of, 2; translation of for- 
eign, as exercise in English, 
62, 102; value of study of, 
293. 

Leacock, Stephen, 268. 

Learned, W. S., 28, 66. 

Librarian, High School, 265. 

Library Commission, Oregon 
State, 263. 

Library, Everyman's, 248. 

Library, Public, 261 ; cooperation 
with, 240-41; Grand Rapids 
(Michigan), 245; Newark 
(New Jersey), 245. 



INDEX 



359 



Library, School, 248, 261-65; as a 
pedagogical morgue, 264; list 
of reference books, see Appen- 
dix; list of other books, 263; 
magazines, 263-64. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 127. 

Literary Digest, The, 263. 

Literary material, arrangement 
of, 129-30; chronological se- 
quence in, 126, 130; proper se- 

; lection of, 112-19; proper plac- 
ing of, 126-32. 

Literary selections, adjusted to 
minds and tastes of pupils, 119, 
126-28; as agency in character 
building, 125-26; choice of, 
120-21 ; general principles gov- 
erning the choice of, 112-32; in 
connection with composition 
work, 117, 126-28; patriotic 
ideals in, 127-28; varied, 123- 
24. 

Literary taste, a true, 118. 

Literature, American, 298; clas- 
sics, use of, 117-18; English, 
study of, in Senior high-school 
year, 130-31; ethical signifi- 
cance of, 19-20; for Commer- 
cial, Technical, and Vocational 
Pupils, 271-84; in connection 
with composition work, 73, 
117, 128; interest in, 118, 122, 
123, 278 f.; modern, 120; peri- 
odical, 120; use of pictures in 
teaching, 266. 

Little Minister, The, Barrie, 242. 

Little Women, Louisa M. Alcott, 
239. 

Locksley Hall, quotation from, 156. 

London, Jack, 127; compared 
with Scott and Cooper, 188; 
The Call of the Wild, 239. 

Longfellow, Henry W., 127, 134, 
166; quotation from Hyperion, 
167. 

Lorna Doone, 120. 

Love in the Valley, quotation 
from, as example of felicitous 
phrasing, 146. 



Lowell, James Russell 127; quo- 
tation from The Cathedral, 153. 

Lyric, the, teaching, 133-67. 

Lyrics, Selected, Riverside Liter- 
ature Series no. 218, 150. 

Macaulay, T. B., 130, 235. 

Macbeth, 113-14, 128, 198, 199- 
200, 205, 207, 211-12, 254; 
catastrophe in, 217; introduc- 
tion in, 213; falling action, 
216-17; rising action, 214; 
short-answer test, for example 
of, 201; turning-point in, 215; 
quotations illustrating vizua- 
lization, 207-08. 

MacVannel, quotation from, 19. 

Madonna of the Future, The, 
Henry James, 170. 

Malory, Thomas, 130. 

Manual of Instructions and Ex- 
ercises, English A, Greenough, 
247. 

Marking compositions, 65-67; 
Harvard-Newton Scale for, 66; 
Hillegas Scale for, 66. 

Marks, on all subjects affected by 
work in English, George H. 
Browne, 107. 

Marks, Teachers': Their Varia- 
bility and Standardization, by 
F. J. Kelly, 66. 

Masefield, John, 268. 

Master Skylark, Bennett, 246. 

Matthews, Brander, 141. 

Maupassant, Guy de, 6. 

Measure for Measure, 149. 

Memory assignments, 155-56; in 
drama, 210-11. 

Merchant of Venice, The, charac- 
ter contrast in, 220. 

Meredith, George, 113; quota- 
tion from Love in the Valley, 
146. 

Meynell, Alice, 195. 

Michael, Wordsworth, quotation 
from, illustrating power of 
concentrated but restrained 
passion, 144. 



360 



INDEX 



Miller, Edith, 66. 

Mill on the Floss, The, George 
Eliot, 116, 192; extract from, 
117. 

Milton, John, 130, 288, 297; quo- 
tation from, 144; quotations 
illustrating poet's power to 
present wide extents of space, 
147. 

Mispronunciation, 90-91. 

Morris, William, 121. 

Morte d' 'Arthur, Tennyson, quo- 
tation from, illustrating tone 
color, 141. 

Mosses from an Old Manse, 129. 

Mother Goose, 136; quotation 
from, illustrating rhyme and 
rhythm, 139. 

Moulton, Richard G., Ancient 
Classic Drama, 294; character 
foil, 221. 

Nancy Stair, 246. 

National Conference on Uniform 
Entrance Requirements in 
English, the, 41; opinion of, 
on aid grammar offers in com- 
position work, 41-42. 

National Council of Teachers of 
English, 31, 245, 263, 305. 

National Geographic Magazine, 
The, 264. 

National Society for the Study of 
Education, Year Book of, 66. 

Neilson, W. A., Harvard Univer- 
sity, scale of measurement for 
compositions, 67. 

Nemesis, 183. 

News Items, use of, 55-57. 

Newspapers, study of, 120; in 
library, 264, 265. 

Newton, Sir Isaac, 145. 

New York City Association of 
High-School Teachers of Eng- 
lish, 100, 245. 

Nice Valour, Fletcher, 149. 

Novel, the, 122, 182, see also 
chap, ix, 167. 

Noyes, Alfred, 268. 



Ode in Honor of St. Cecilia's Day, 
Dryden, quotation illustrating 
rhythm, 137; quotation illus- 
trating tone color, 142. 

Ode on a Grecian Urn, Keats, 
teaching, 149; quotation from, 
grammatically analyzed, 45; 
quotation from, illustrating 
clearing up of difficult phras- 
ing, 152. 

Ode to a Nightingale, 122; Keats, 
quotation from, as example of 
felicitous phrasing, 146. 

Ode to Evening, Wm. Collins, 140. 

Ode to the West Wind, Shelley, 
150; topical analysis of, 151. 

Ode, Pindaric, the, 140. 

Odyssey, The, 114, 122; literary 
value of, 114, 115. 

Old Testament, stories of the, 122. 

Onomatopoeia, see Tone color, 
141. 

Oral composition, 257; aims of, 
69; arousing interest in, 71- 
72; arrangement of words 
and phrases in, 80; assign- 
ments in, 70-76; coherence 
in, 80-81, 86, 87; concentra- 
tion upon theme in, 90; crit- 
icism of, 79, 80-96; delivery of, 
88-96; ease and posture in giv- 
ing, 89-90; emphasis in, 80-81, 
86, 87; enunciation, 80, 89- 
93; gestures in, 90: grammar 
of, 80, 82, 83; in senior year, 72; 
keeping the "audience sense," 
89; list of topics, 71-72; nerv- 
ousness in delivery, 90; out- 
lines, 74-78; paragraphing in, 
81; performance in 79, 88; pic- 
tures, use of, in, 265-66; pos- 
ture in delivering, 80, 89; 
preparation of, 70-78, 88; pro- 
nunciation in, 80, 89, 90-92; 
stress on three things in, 70; 
structure, 80; style, 80; sympa- 
thetic support of audience, se- 
curing, 89; unity in, 80-81, 86; 
vocabulary for, 80, 84-86; 



INDEX 



361 



voice in, 80, 89-93; warning, 
70; Oral Composition, chap, v, 
69-96. 

Oral reading, as aid in interpre- 
tation, 153-55; mechanical 
processes of, 154; see also 
enunciation, pronunciation, 
and voice, 90-93. 

Oral test, on Dickens's Hard 
Times, 251-53. 

Oratory, 122. 

Outline, for oral theme criticism, 
80; for topical analysis of Ode 
to the West Wind, 151; for topi- 
cal analysis of To a Skylark, 
151; the making of an, for an 
essay, 226-29. 

Outlines for oral compositions, 

| 74-78. 

Outlook, The, 263. 

Palmer, George Herbert, 117; 
Self- Cultivation in English, 
study of, 226. 

Paper, the school, 254-56; as a 
socializing agent, 256; care re- 
garding selection of articles, 
255 ; humorous column in, 255- 
56; in connection with theme 
work, 256; as a means of pub- 
licly recognizing pupils' merit, 
255. 

Paper, uniform use of, in all 
departments, 104. 

Paradise Lost, Milton, quotation 
from, illustrating emotion in- 
tensified by restraint, 144 ; 
266. 

Paraphrase, the, aid to construc- 
tive thinking, and definite 
phrasing, 10; as test of under- 
standing, 10, 11. 

Paraphrase of passage from Rabbi 
Ben Ezra, 11, 44. 

Passing of Arthur, The, Tenny- 
son, quotation from, for visual- 
ization and sensory imagery, 
158-59. 

Paul, H. G., University of Illi- 



nois, discussion showing pupils 
external facts about poems, 
148-49; 263. 

Personality, the, of the essayist, 
232-34; of the novelist, see 
chapter on Prose Fiction ; of the 
teacher, 131; suggestive ques- 
tions, 233-34. 

Phillpotts, Eden, 185-86. 

Pictures, 265-67; aesthetic appeal 
of, 267; camera, 265-66; 
Dore's, 266; in the classroom, 
266; in composition work, 265- 
66; list of, 266; in literature 
work, 266-67; original draw- 
ings, 265. 

Pilgrim's Progress, 114-24; liter- 
ary value of, 114, 115. 

Plato, 291. 

Plot, analysis, example of, 212; 
five divisions of, 212; in fiction, 
185; structure in drama, 212- 
17; technique, 178-85. 

Poe, Edgar Allen, 127, 129, 130, 
143, quotation from, 146. , 

Poems, comparing and contrast- 
ing, list, 148; composed in 
special circumstances, 148; 
topical division of certain, 150- 
51 ; writing out impressions of, 
148; writing out in prose, sub- 
stance of, 148. 

Poetical appeal, assumed to be 
universal, 134; in Shake- 
spearean drama, 209-10. 

Poetry, 122; The Teaching of, 
with Particular Attention to 
the Lyric, chap, viii, 133-66; 
appeal of, 134; aversion to, 
134-35; appreciation for, cul- 
tivating, 145-46; 147; assign- 
ments, 148; definition of, 154; 
development of, 139; interpre- 
tation of difficult passages of, 
151-53; memory assignments 
in, 155-56; oral reading of, 
153-55; origin of, 135; power 
of, 143; relation of logic to, 
154; relation of music to, 154; 



362 



INDEX 



relation of rhyme to, 138; 
rhythm in, 135-38; rhythmic 
beauty of, 138; visualization 
in, 157-66. 

Pope, Alexander, 124, 125, 297. 

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 
239. 

Printing and English, correlation 
of, article by Walter S. Hinch- 
man, 104-06. 

Prize-speaking, 260-61. 

Problems in the teaching of sec- 
ondary English, list of, 303-04. 

Pronunciation, 80, 90-92. 

Prose Fiction, The Teaching of, 
chap, ix, 167. 

Provincialisms, examples of, 83, 
84. 

Psalm of Life, A, Longfellow, 160. 

Psychology of High School Sub- 
jects, C. H. Judd, 2. 

Purloined Letter, The, 129. 

Queed, Henry Sydnor Harrison, 

240. 
Queen Anne period, 124, 246. 
Quentin Durward, 182. 

Rabbi Ben Ezra, Robert Brown- 
ing, quotation from, 10-11, 44; 
passage paraphrased, 11, 44; 
passage interpreted by means 
of syntactical analysis, 44. 

Raven, The, Poe, 148. 

Reading matter, the interpreta- 
tion of, 15-20. 

Reading, oral, 153-55. 

Reading, outside, cooperation 
with the city library, 240-41; 
personal conference, 239-40; 
summer, 241 ff.; Summer, for 
High-School Pupils, Abbott, 
245; testing, 250-53; The Prob- 
lem of Outside Reading, chap. 
xii, 238-53; 

Renaissance movement, 139, 246. 

Return of the Native, The, Thomas 
Hardy, 186. 

Revenge, The, Tennyson, 103, 



Review of Reviews, The, 263. 

Rhyme, by high-school boy, 139; 
in relation to rhythm, 138-39; 
in relation to poetry, 138-40. 

Rhymes, Counting-out, 136. 

Rhythm, basic design and worth 
of, in poetry, 135-38; imita- 
tive, 136-37; in Dryden's Ode 
in Honor of St. Cecilia's Day, 
137; in Kipling's Barrack Room 
Ballads, 137; in nature, 135; in 
nonsense jingles, 136; in non- 
sensical combinations of good 
words, 136; in relation to 
rhyme, 138-39; in T. B. Al- 
drich's Voices of the Sea, 138; 
preserving, in reading poetry, 
154; suggestive, 137-38. 

Riley, James Whitcomb, 134, 
268. 

Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The, 
Coleridge, 113; quotation 
from, 147. 

Rising action in Antony and Cleo- 
patra, 214-15; in dramatic 
plot, 214-15; in Macbeth, 214. 

Robin Hood Ballads, quotations 
from, illustrating quatrain 
rhyme, 139. 

Romala, 191. 

Rossetti, 164; Blessed Damozel, 
148. 

Rugby Chapel, 140. 

Ruskin, John, 145, 235, 296; 
Sesame and Lilies, 226. 

Sawyer, Tom, Mark Twain, 239. 

Scale, Scales for the Measurement 
of English Compositions, Frank 
W. Ballou, 28, 66; Harvard- 
Newton, 28, 66; Hillegas- 
Thorndike, 66. 

Scarlet Letter, The, Hawthorne, 
182. 

Scott, Sir Walter, 127; study of, 
188. 

Scribner's Monthly Magazine, 264. 

Self-Cultivation in English, Pal- 
mer, 117, 129, 226. 



INDEX 



363 



Self-Dependence, Matthew Ar- 
nold, quotation from, illus- 
trating felicitous phrasing, 146. 

Sensory imagery, 143, 158-65, 
207. 

Sensory impression, 59-60; titles 
suggestive of, 60; see also Ap- 
pendix. 

Sentence, arrangement of words 
and phrases in, 86-87; struc- 
ture in oral composition, 82- 
86; in essay, 230. 

Sentences for drill in correcting 
errors of speech, 82, 83. 

Sesame and Lilies, Ruskin, 226. 

Setting of a novel, the, 178, 
185-87. 

Shakespeare, 130, 192, 246, 297; 
group, the, 122; humor, 211- 
12; lyrics, 149; memory assign- 
ments, 210-11; methods of 
study, 205 ; poetic appeal, 209- 
10; quotation illustrating po- 
etic appeal, 210; sensory imag- 
ery, 207; teaching the drama, 
198-223; vocabulary and allu- 
sions, 208-09. 

Shaw, Bernard, 218. 

Shelley, Mrs., her account of the 
skylark, 148. 

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 130, 295; 
Ode to the West Wind, 150; To a 
Skylark, 150, 151; quotation 
illustrating easy flow of rhyme 
and rhythm, 139; quotation il- 
lustrating sensory imagery, 165. 

Shuman, Edwin L., account of 
visit to Eden Phulpotts, 185- 
86. 

Sidney, Philip, 149. 

Sigurd the Volsung, 120. 

Silas Marner, 116, 128, 168, 181, 
190, 192. 

Simpson, Frances, 262; list of 
reference books, see Appendix. 

Six-year plan for high-school 
English, 31. 

Sketch Book, The, Irving, 129. 

Skylark, Master, Bennett, 246. 



Skylark, To a, Shelley, quotation 
illustrating sensory imagery, 
165; topical analysis of, 151. 

Slang, translation of, phrases to 
enlarge vocabulary, 85. 

Small, Jennie, 66. 

Smith, F. Hopkinson, The Mas- 
ter Diver, 239. 

Smith, Sidney, 236. 

Socializing value in literature, 
114, 125-26, 128, 173-74, 255. 

Socrates, 291. 

Sohrab and Rustum, 187. 

Sonnet, 140; teaching the, 141. 

Sophocles, 294. 

Southey, 73, 137. 

Spanish Armada, the, 103. 

Spectator Papers, The, 113. 

Spencer, Herbert, 291. 

Stanza, Spenserian, the, teach- 
ing, 140, 141. 

Star-Spangled Banner, The, 148. 

Steele, Richard, 246. 

Stereopticon, 62-63; 264. 

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 127, 
182, 235. 

Structure, of essay, 82, 226-30; 
questions, 288-89; of oral 
theme, 80, 81, 82, 86, 88. 

Style, criticism of, in oral com- 
position, 80, 81-88; in litera- 
ture selections, 115-16; ques- 
tions on essay style, 231-32; 
studying the essayist's style, 
229, 232; various words de- 
scriptive of, 229-30. 

Supervision, of first-year high- 
school work, 23-24; of English 
in schools, 32. 

Supplementary Aids to the Teach- 
ing of English, chap, xnr, 
254 ff.; city and school libra- 
ries, 261-65; debating, 257, 
260; pictures, 265-67; prize 
speaking, 260-61 ; school paper, 
the, 255-56. 

Survey, The, 263. 

Suspense, 184. 

Swift, Dean, 246. 



364 



INDEX 



Swinburne, Algernon Charles, 
quotation from Atalanta in 
Calydon, 142; quotation from 
Ave Atque Vale, 142. 

Synonyms, use of, to improve 
vocabulary, 85. 

Tale of Two Cities, A, Dickens, 
113, 124, 128, 168, 181; list of 
questions prepared by pupils, 
174-76; scene from, illustrating 
suspense, 184; suggestions for 
teaching, 172-77; theme as- 
signment, 192. 

Tales of a Traveller, Irving, 129. 

"Talk Around," to arouse inter- 
est in oral composition, 72. 

Tarkington, Booth, The Turmoil, 
124, 186. 

Tauler, 286. 

Taylor, Bayard, quotation, illus- 
trating power to present to the 
imagination wide extents of 
space, 147. 

Teacher, English, the, training 
of, 285Jf.; grade, transferred 
to high school, 25-26; high- 
school, transferred to grades, 
26; liberty in selection of ma- 
terial, 120; personality of, 130; 
valueto.of varied interests, 295. 

Teaching, practice, 300-02. 

Tempest, The, Shakespeare, 149, 
211-12. 

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord — A Me- 
moir by His Son, 148. 

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 7, 8, 17, 
131, 297; In Memoriam, 287; 
quotations, 137, 141, 142-^3, 
158, 159. 

Tess of the D" Urbervilles, Thomas 
Hardy, 191. 

Tests, for outside reading, 250- 
53; on Dickens's Hard Times, 
questions, 251-53; short- 
answer, 200, example, 201-03. 

Thackeray, William Makepeace, 
Henry Esmond, 246; The Vir- 
ginians, 190. 



Thomas and Howe, Composition 
and Rhetoric, 49. 

Thompson, Francis, 166. 

Thompson, James, quotation 
from City of Dreadful Night, 13. 

Thoreau, Henry D., 235. 

Thurber, Samuel, 279. 

Titles for compositions, 60; see 
also Appendix. 

Tonality, 141. 

Tone color, value of, 141-43; ex- 
amples, 141, 142, 143. 

Topical division of certain poems, 
150-51; analysis, 151. 

Translation of, classics, 122; for- 
eign language as exercise in 
English composition, 62, as 
help in vocabulary, 86; slang, 
85; The Battle of Brunanburgh, 
by Tennyson, 142. 

Treasure Island, Stevenson, 122. 

Triumphs of Science, Lane, 119. 

Turmoil, The, Booth Tarkington, 
186, 240. 

Turning-point, in drama, 215; in 
fiction, 181. 

Twice - Told Tales, Hawthorne, 
116, 129. 

Type-writing, use of, 104. 

Unity, criticism of, in oral com- 
position, 80, 81, 86; in written 
composition, 54. 

University of Chicago Press, 245. 

University of Missouri Bulletin, 
66. 

Van Dyke, Henry, 236. 

Variety, and alternatives in lit- 
erary selection, 126; common 
violations of, 88; in oral com- 
position, 86, 87-88; in teaching 
character analysis, 191 ; of lit- 
erary types in English course, 
121-23, 129. 

Versification, A Study of, Brander 
Matthews, 141. 

Victorian age, the, 131. 

Virgil, 113. 



INDEX 



365 



Virginians, The, Thackeray, 190. 

Visualization, in drama, 205-08; 
in poetry, 157 ff. 

Vocabulary, criticism of, in oral 
composition, 80, 84-86; sug- 
gestions for improving the, 
85, 86; Shakespearean, 208- 
09. 

Voice, the, and enunciation, 93; 
as vehicle of emotion, 94; 
books on culture of, 93; devel- 
oping musical quality in, 95; 
flexibility of, 94; in oral com- 
position, 80, 92, 93-96; man- 
agement of, 93-96; suggestions 
for effectiveness of, 93; thin- 
ness of, 94. 

Ward, Camelia Carhart, lists of 

pictures, 266. 
Westward, Ho !, Charles Kingsley, 

Ayacanora, example of devel- 



oping character, 191; in con- 
nection with Renaissance, 246. 

Whitman, Walt, 127. 

Whittier, John Greenleaf, 127, 
134. 

Winsor School, Boston, 242. 

Wonder Book, The, 129. 

Words and Their Ways in English 
Speech, Greenough and Kit- 
tredge, 3. 

Words, acquirement of new, 85, 
91 ; arrangement and choice of, 
in oral composition, 86; re- 
quired use of new, 85 ; unusual 
and appropriately selected, 85. 

Wordsworth, William, 73, 130, 
145, 288, 297; quotation from 
Michael, 144; quotation from 
The Prelude, illustrating spir- 
itual insight and skillful phras- 
ing, 145; quotation from Tin- 
tern Abbey 166. 



RIVERSIDE TEXTBOOKS 
IN EDUCATION 



The Riverside Textbooks in Education will event- 
ually contain books on the following subjects : — 

I. History of Education. — 2. Public Education in Amer- 
ica. — 3. Theory of Education. — 4. Principles of Teaching. — 
5. School and Class Management. — 6. School Hygiene. — 
7. School Administration. — 8. Secondary Education. — 
9. Educational Psychology. — 10. Educational Sociology. — 
11. The Curriculum. — 12. Special Methods. 



RURAL LIFE AND EDUCATION. 

By E. P. Cubberley, Professor of Education, Leland Stanford 
Junior University. $1.50 net. Postpaid. 

THE HYGIENE OF THE SCHOOL CHILD. 

By L. M. Terman, Professor of Education, Leland Stanford 
Junior University. $1.65 net. Postpaid. 

EVOLUTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL IDEAL. 
By Mabel I. Emerson, First Assistant in Charge of the George 
Bancroft School, Boston. $1.10 net. Postpaid. 

HEALTH WORK IN THE SCHOOLS. 

By E. B. Hoag, M.D., Medical Director, Long Beach City 
Schools, Cal., and L. M. Terman. $1.60 net. Postpaid. 

DISCIPLINE AS A SCHOOL PROBLEM. 

By A. C. Perry, Jr., District Superintendent of Schools, New 
York City. $1.35 net. Postpaid. 

HOW TO TEACH THE FUNDAMENTAL SUBJECTS. 

By C. N. Kendall, Commissioner of Education for New Jersey, 
and G. A. Mirick, formerly Deputy Commissioner of Education 
for New Jersey. Si. 25 net. Postpaid. 

TEACHING LITERATURE IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES AND 
HIGH SCHOOL. 

By Emma M. Bolenius, formerly Instructor in English, Central 
Commercial and Manual Training High School, Newark, N.J. 
81.35 net. Postpaid. 

1725a 



PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION. 

By E. P. Cubberley. #1.75 net. Postpaid. 

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE COMMON BRANCHES. 

By F. N. Freeman, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychol- 
ogy, University of Chicago. $1.35 net. Postpaid. 

THE MEASUREMENT OF INTELLIGENCE. 
By L. M. Terman. #1.60 net. Postpaid, 

Test Material for The Measurement of Intelligence. 50 cents net. 
Postpaid. Record Booklets. In packages of twenty-five. $2.00 
net, a package. Postpaid. 

EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION. 
By F. N. Freeman. #1.40 net. Postpaid. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL SOCIOLOGY. 

By Walter R. Smith, Professor of Sociology and Economics, 
Kansas State Normal School, Emporia, Kansas. #1.75 net. Post- 
paid. 



Secondary Education Division 

PROBLEMS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION. 

By David Snedden, Professor of Education, Teachers Col- 
lege, Columbia University. $1.50 net. Postpaid. 

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN THE SECONDARY 
SCHOOL. 

By Charles Swain Thomas, Head of the English Department^ 
Newton High School, Newton, Mass. $1.60 net. Postpaid. 



Other volumes in preparation 



HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 

1725b 















'OO 1 



■.->■ 



.# 






v- ^ 



. ■* .-A' 












A' 










v . •> 



,w> % 












^ 






'./- -s? 









^ 






:S*-^ 











•>* 


-\ 


. 









■ '" 




^ 














cj 






•>•* 






' 





































v v '-y- ,. 













<J> \\ 




>% 








■p 



* +* 



',** 



c- 



i c> 









^<k 












^ 






S ^sf' 



5> * 






** s 






"^c 






•V s 



cS <>. 









© 



V ^ 












